By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
FOLLOWING IN the wake of a recent demonstration by residents of Rosemount, in St. James, their Member of Parliament Dr. Horace Chang is pointing an accusing finger at the Ministry of Housing, accusing the government body of 'gross official negligence.'
Speaking against the background of the residents' concern about the shoddy state of their roads and the 'unwise manner' in which some recent repairs were done, Dr. Chang has threatened to bring the matter to the attention of both Parliament and the Public Defender.
CRUEL
"It is cruel for an agency of government to do this kind of thing to residents," said Dr. Chang, who is contending that an incomplete project by Black Brothers Limited was partly to be blamed for the situation. "They started the work and created a massive excavation of a hole of four feet by eight feet deep and then the project stopped prematurely."
In explaining the whole scenario behind the unfinished project, Dr. Chang said construction was halted halfway when there was a ministerial change from Dr. Karl Blythe to Donald Buchanan. . "It was then that it became apparent that Black Brothers was given only verbal instruction to begin construction," he said.
COMPLETE STANDSTILL
According to Dr. Chang, the work came to a complete standstill when Minister Buchanan took over the Housing Ministry and his Ministry subsequently refused to sign a contract with Black Brothers, which would have given them the authorisation to continue the project, which entailed road repairs and the construction of drains.
"As a result of the state the road was left in, we have since seen much more severe scouring of the roadways," said Dr. Chang, who admitted that he fully understand the anger of those who staged the recent demonstration. "Despite various attempts, we have not been able to get a response from the Ministry of Housing."
Dr. Chang pointed out that while it was not uncommon for government to verbally instruct a contractor to begin work on a project as a matter of urgency, he said he was blaming the Ministry for not making the Rosemount contract official. According to him, Black Brothers acted in good faith to begin the work but had good reasons to stop since they had not gotten the contract to continue.
"It is my intention to move a resolution in parliament and also to bring it to the attention of the public defender," said Dr. Chang. "This is a clear case of victimisation of the people in Rose Mount."
Repeated attempt to get a response from the Ministry of Housing proved futile as the official contacted refused to comment on the matter.
