RESIDENTS of St Martin’s and Harlington in St Philip and surrounding areas say they are fed up with the protracted roadworks being done by Rayside Construction and want definitive answers as to when they will end.
One woman, who requested anonymity, said the situation was “ridiculous”.
“This should be done ever since but I see the workmen standing around doing nothing. They start pieces all over the place but not finishing none,” she said.
The woman said the dust was making people sick.
Lisa Cadogan, who lives in nearby Cane Garden, said the road-wetting programme was inadequate.
“When the man comes to wet the road – if he comes at 9 a.m., by 11 a.m. it gets back dry and when the bus passes, you can’t see anything and the dust does blow straight in your house,” she said.
Cadogan said she had small children in the house and the dust was not good for them.
“We can’t even come outside and chill when the house is hot. The dust out here is killing you. I don’t like what is going on at all,” she said.
Some residents are reported to have resorted to wetting the road themselves in an effort to keep the dust under control. One such person is operator of Sparkie’s Place in St Martin’s, Dean Edghill.
“My water bill is skyrocketing because I have to water this road myself when the construction people don’t. I can’t have customers here and dust flying about,” he said.
But this is just part of Edghill’s problems.
He said his business was at its lowest ebb due to the prolonged roadworks, which had been going on for several months.
“It is real bad; my business has been cut 75 per cent,”?he said. “With all this stuff flying, people not coming and the ones who try, don’t know where to turn to get here. It has never been this bad before; I was accustomed to buying 800 cases of beer but now I can’t even move 400.”
Like the nearby Trimart, which may be considering letting workers go and reportedly held a staff meeting yesterday on the matter, Edghill said he might also have to think about trimming his small staff.
“I am trying to hold on to staff but I don’t know how long I can do it,” he said.
An up-and-coming small business called Fabline had signs on its walls indicating it would be closed until the roadworks were over.
At NSS Hardware and Rentals, a worker, who declined identification, said the roadworks, instead of fixing problems, only created them.
“I have been here for eight years and it never used to flood around here before. Men came from Rayside and asked me if here used to flood and I said no, so I guess they ‘corrected’ the ‘problem’ by making it flood now,” she said.
Not everyone was against Rayside, however. A man, who identified himself as Duncan B, said the construction company could not do its job if it was not getting what was due to them by Government.
“If Rayside not getting money to fix the road, how can they fix it? Who is really to blame? I don’t think it is Rayside,” he said.
A spokesman for the owners of Rayside has denied the problem was linked with non-payment and instead blamed the delays on technical difficulties and unfavourable weather.
Harlington resident Astor Rowe also called on Government to suspend some of its housing programmes until the roads were up to scratch. He said it made no sense to have pretty buildings with no one in them and bad roads.
“Stop the housing projects and deal with the roads. You can’t do both, it is a waste of time. They building houses but can’t sell them. They say they have $160 million to develop roads but nothing finish yet; it is time to put the past in the past and leave out the politics,” he said.
