“THERE was a sign on the gate marked Keep Out, and we are not going in.”
This was proclaimed yesterday by a team of workers from the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) who were deployed to undertake the debushing work at the restricted Arch Cot, Brittons X Road area.
Ina Mayers, one of the workers at Arch Cot, forcefully vented her concern about being assigned to the area, questioning the safety of the area.
“We do not feel safe going in there. They send us and we ain’t going in,” she proclaimed.
The concerned workers explained that despite the persuasion from their superiors, they were not satisfied that they should be forced to enter the area that has been restricted to the public.
Mayers said: “The supervisor telling us to go in but we are not comfortable with that. Why cant they find someone else to do it?”
She added: “They are not taking any machinery in there, but they want us to complete the job by hand. Our job description is to clean the roads.”
The team of about 13 workers remained on the main road.
Mayers added that Mr Nash Lovell, Chief Technical Officer with the MTW, came and spoke to them and sympathised with them in their plight and further instructed them to clean the road on the outside of the property.
Kathy-Ann Best, information officer with the MTW, said: “Workers from the Ministry of Transport and Works were sent to clear Arch Cot in preparation for a visit to the area next week by the Coroner.
“The majority of the workers expressed concern, recalling the tragic event of August 2007. Acting Chief Technical Officer Nash Lovell spoke with the workers, following which others were assigned to undertake the task of cleaning the area.”
The Arch Cot area was closed to people since the 2007 collapse of an apartment complex that killed Donavere Codrington, his wife Cassandra and her three children.
Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris said that on Friday, December 3, she would be going to the area in Arch Cot Terrace, Brittons Hill, St Michael, where five people died. She stated that the area would have to be debushed. (LK)
