Walking, riding or driving on Merl Grove Avenue, which is located off Seaward Drive, is no stroll in the park. Potholes are having their way with this road that has not seen any sort of repairs for decades. -Photos by Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

WHAT'S NOT WORKING

Roads leading off Waltham Park Avenue, Molynes Road, Seaward Drive and Olympic Gardens are a pain in residents' necks, backs and pockets. Now, fed up and tired of years of neglect, they are demanding that the KSAC address the situation.

SYNOPSIS OF SITUATION:

Public Service Announcement to all motorists: when in the Kingston 11 area, avoid Dahlia Avenue, Marigold Avenue, Cosmos Crescent, Campbell's Boulevard, Merl Grove Avenue, Locksley Hemmings Way, and Simmonds Park Drive. Failure to do so will definitely result in the need for vehicular repairs and possibly an angry phone call to the KSAC.

The above-mentioned roads are terrible. Cracks, potholes and craters have severely defaced the roads' surfaces and the situation continues to get worse.

Ryan, a shopkeeper from Dahlia Avenue, said that both Dahlia Avenue and Cosmos Crescent have been in desperate need of repairs since long before Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

"Yute, mi seh de road dem bout de cute bad from bout 2000 and Ivan just mek it worse," he said. "De people dem nuh fix nuttin. Is in 2005 mi see dem come mark up and spray up de road like work go start; see it there, all now nuttin nuh gwaan, pothole all eat out the markings dem."

Ryan continued that the malicious potholes in the roads are inescapable.

"The solution is just for KSAC to fix the road dem. We the residents tired a put cement in the potholes. The worse thing is it don't matter what yuh do you still affi service yuh car every two weeks," he said. "Whether you drive fast or slow it nuh mek a difference. Dem politician deh inna big van so dem nuh worry bout road and dem not even drive roun dem way anyway; a we feeling de struggle so dem fi come sort out the thing."

Bruce Campbell,a resident of Merl Grove Avenue since 1960, describes the neglect of the roads as unbelievable.

"I live here since birth and the only time me remember any form of road works was in 1972 when the sidewalks were built; since then it is as if we don't exist anymore," Campbell said.

Kevin Johnson, a Simmonds Park resident, said it was only last month that he and fellow residents took it upon themselves to 'patch out' some potholes at the intersection of Seaward Drive and Mimosa Avenue.

"Mi nah lie, a full time dem sort out de road dem, mi can't emphasise that enough. I mean, look at Brettford Avenue, inna Christmas dem sort out up there, go look how it smooth and thing, all dem waan is some sleeping police because is highway that turn now, so why dem can't fix the other roads?" he asked. "Look at Locksley Hemmings Way and Merl Grove Avenue. Dem right beside Brettford Avenue. Why they never fix those as well? As far as mi see it, whoever responsible fi de roads nuh really care, that's why dem a hitch fi fix dem."

WHO'S RESPONSIBLE?

Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC)

Better safe than sorry: This taxi operator crawls along Dahlia Avenue, which runs off Bay Farm Road, Kingston 11. The street is filled with huge potholes.

WHAT'S THE STATUS?

Norman Shand, city engineer at the KSAC, said the Council had no knowledge of the poor conditions of the aforementioned roads.

While he pledged that they would look into the issue, Mr. Shand was unable to give a timeline for repairs which he said was dependent on the availability of funds.

CONCLUSION:

Can somebody, anybody, tell me how it is that the local authority is not aware of the poor state of roads within the municipality that have been that way from 'whoppy kill phillop'?

Is the KSAC asleep on the job? It seems so. Pulling down illegal signs is good and must be done, but bad roads need to be repaired as well and should be done with the same intensity that the KSAC hunts down business owners who advertise without its consent. Mr. Shand, your explanation is unacceptable and it implies that the KSAC is shirking its responsibility.

Additionally, how is it that one of the roads - Brettford - could have been repaired without someone noticing that the connecting roads are in a banged up condition? Is it that the burdened taxpayers of this country are paying the public servants at the KSAC to just sit in their air-conditioned office down by Church Street and not go out into the municipality to see what needs to be repaired? I don't think so. So, get up and go see what needs to be done and get it done.

Again, we hear the clich?d 'waiting on the availability of funds.' This does not justify years of neglect. How is it possible to not respond to, in some cases, 10 years of complaints regarding bad roads? Maintenance is the key. Sad to say, this recommendation may very soon become a clich?.

Marlon Vickerman, Gleaner Writer, did this installment of Tyrone's Watch.

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Tell us about problems in your community. We will visit and help to lobby for action. Write to: Tyrone Reid, the Gleaner Company Limited, 7 North Street, Kingston; Fax: 922-6223, Telephone: 922-3400 Ext. 6364 or E-mail: tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com