Fed-up St Mary residents launch own road repair project after 60 years of neglect

Tired of waiting on politicians, frustrated residents of Preston Hill in St Mary have taken matters into their own hands and started repairing a crumbling community road they say has been neglected for more than 60 years.

Residents say Burnside Road, which links Preston Hill to Bailey’s Vale, has deteriorated so badly over the decades that some people were forced to abandon their homes.

Now, community members are pooling resources and labour in a desperate push to restore access to the area.

“The road was fixed in the 1960s and nothing else has been done to it since,” community activist Vincent Bryan told The STAR.

“Throughout the years, the community has been neglected by successive governments so the road has gotten so bad that people who lived on that road were forced to move out.”

Bryan said residents are now trying to rebuild the community themselves in hopes that displaced families can eventually return home.

The community has already started clearing overgrown sections of the roadway, while Port Maria Mayor Fitzroy Wilson reportedly donated $65,000 to hire a backhoe for one day.

But Bryan says much more help is needed.

He is now appealing to Members of Parliament Robert Montague and Omar Newell to assist with the effort.

Residents say Burnside Road is especially critical because the other route into Preston Hill becomes nearly impossible to use during heavy rainfall due to flooding at a nearby ford.

“So if somebody gets sick suddenly during the rain, there’s no way to go to hospital,” Bryan explained.

According to residents, years of neglect have left sections of the roadway stripped of asphalt and covered in thick vegetation.

“We’re scraping the road straight through, then on Labour Day we plan to concrete the hills, Murphy Hill is terrible so we’re going to concrete Murphy Hill and Cross Road. There’s a little swamp at Tumble Hill, we plan to fill it out with stones and see what we can do with it; those are the three worse parts of the road. On the level is not so bad but going up the hills, with the loose stones, it’s difficult,” Bryan pointed out.

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