A man who was seriously injured in 2001, when a section of a main road collapsed on him, has not been compensated because the Government is relying on an old English common-law principle that it is not responsible for injuries caused from lack of maintenance to a roadway.

Vincent Green, 53, farmer and mason of Allsides district, near Warsop in Trelawny, is now forced to take his children out of school because he is unable to work to support his family.

A government lawyer said yesterday that the 18th-century common-law principle is still in force in Jamaica and, until it has been repealed, or amendments made, it is still part of the law. The lawyer said that England now has a modern-day legislation that imposes a duty on the authorities.

The lawyer said further that the law in Jamaica is that, if a highway authority fails to fix a road and injury is done to a person or a motor car is damaged, the authority is not responsible. However, if the road is repaired and was not properly done, then in the case of any injury or damage, the authority is liable.

Green was employed to a contractor of the National Works Agency (NWA) who was building a retaining wall along the Wire Fence to Warsop main road when a section of the road collapsed on July 7, 2001, pinning Green for a long time under a mixture of dirt and asphalt.

He was dug out by fellow workers and taken to hospital. He suffered spinal injury and had to undergo surgery. He now has 40 per cent disability of his whole person.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com