Some Trelawny residents elated over rehab work on Duncans to Clark’s Town road
Published:Thursday | March 6, 2025 | 12:06 AMLeon Jackson/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Some stakeholders in Trelawny are now breathing a collective sigh of relief as the roadway from Duncans to Clark’s Town, arguably the most challenging roadway in the entire parish, is now being rehabilitated, thanks to a J$19-million allocation from the Government.
According to Janel Ricketts, the National Works Agency’s communication officer for western Jamaica, the Government has approved the funding to repair the road, which has caused years of frustration for motorists, who regularly fall prey to the endless potholes that have been damaging their vehicles.
Last February, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness got a firsthand experience driving along the six-mile roadway to a party meeting in Clark’s Town, and without prompting, he decried the state of the road surface and promised to ensure that it gets fixed.
“I drove on the road to come up here and I am not pleased. You have concerns about the road, and you are upset. If I lived here, I would be upset,” Holness told the residents.
Now, with the funding in place and the project started, Ricketts told The Gleaner that the rehabilitation of the roadway is expected to progress smoothly.
“The work now being undertaken includes patching, drain cleaning and asphalt overlay,” said Ricketts.
However, Fabian Davis, the councillor for the Duncans Division, who has faced much criticism for the state of the road, is happy that something is finally being done. However, he has mixed feelings about the quality of the work he has seen.
“If you look at the work being done in the vicinity of Long Pond Factory, it gives rise to an unannounced plan to strike up a deal between the Sugar Company of Jamaica and a Chinese company,” said Davis. “That is the only section being done properly. All the other sections now have bumps where huge potholes existed. This approach is not sitting well with residents of Spicy Hill and Samuel Prospects.”
Like Davis, taxi operator John Patterson is not pleased with what he is seeing of the rehabilitation work, as he is of the view that the entirety of the six-mile stretch would have been completely resurfaced, which he believes would be one way of ensuring that the roadway would remain intact for years, and not until the first heavy shower of rain.
“The work is being poorly done. They just fill the potholes and put an inch of asphalt on it. We operators have suffered from frequent repairs and replacement of front-end parts, so we are not pleased with the quality of what we’re seeing,” said Patterson. “Just last week I spent $40,000 on struts. That is separate from tyres, which costs $12,000 each. Why does politics have to be involved in everything Government does for the people? This is not what we expected.”
However, female motorist Marlene Johnson said she was happy that something is finally being done to the road, as she can now drive at a reasonable speed instead of the snail’s pace that makes using the road at nights a scary experience.
“I can work with what is going on now ... . Hopefully, when the SPARK Programme comes through we might see some more improvement,” said Johnson. “Right now, we just have to give thanks for small mercies and continue [to hope] that things will get better sooner than later.”
Some residents from Clark’s Town, who commute daily along the roadway via public passenger vehicles, said the ride is getting smoother with each new day of work and, therefore, they are much happier with the situation.
“When the vehicle dem drop inna potholes, sometimes all yu head lick up inna the roof of the vehicle. Plus, the back pain from the twisting and turning ... it use to be wicked,” said a hotel worker. “Mi hope seh dem don’t mek it go back to where it was.”