A woman shows Milton Miles, councillor for the Savanna-la-Mar division, that there is not even a drop of water coming from the pipe on wash day. In the background is another woman who had collected water much earlier from a lower pipe. - photo by Dalton Laing
SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland:
Milton Miles, councillor for the Savanna-la-Mar division in Westmoreland, will be trying to get the attention of Robert Montague, minister of state for local government in the Office of the Prime Minister, after a revealing walk through Cooke Street in the parish yesterday.
During the walk, residents showed Miles, for the second time, the deplorable road conditions and the poor water supply the community is experiencing.
Earlier this year, Miles visited the area and was shown the constantly deteriorating roads and told about the water situation.
Producing the estimate
The plan then was to produce an estimate, which at the time was just over $2 million for road repairs alone. With the rise in the price of raw materials, Miles believes that the estimate, which was done in April, is now invalid as a noticeable increase could be expected, especially when the water supply issue was taken into consideration.
The general cry during the walk was for immediate attention to be given to the situation. The residents were calling on Dr Horace Chang, minister of water and housing, to come to theirrescue.
According to the residents, the roads were so bad that they had to travel with two pairs of shoes or plastic bags to tie the ones they carried if they didn't have more than one.
The residents have also said students of the basic school in the area have had difficulty attending classes because they were sometimes unable to access the school premises.
With respect to water, the residents have pointed to the inconvenience of having to take showers late at nights. Washing during the day, they said, is next to impossible. This was evident during yesterday's walk.
Miles said he would be making representation for the residents, who said the roads had not been repaired in almost 20 years.
- Dalton Laing
