More than 1,300 residents of the West Portland community of Fruitfulvale are now benefitting from the rehabilitated Bath Springs Road that was officially opened on Monday by the Honourable Robert Montague, State Minister with responsibility for Local Government in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Completed within the set time of three months and within budget of J$7.4M, by WADMAR Construction Limited, the works included the entire renovation of 650M of road way and the widening of the road to 7M allowing it to be accessible to pedestrians and two way traffic. Other works included significant improvements to the drainage system as well as the construction of V-drains, U-drains, earth drains and concrete cross drains and culverts; reconstruction of the sub-base, base and double surface treatment of the pavement in addition to the construction of retaining walls and spillways.
Also addressing the opening were Member of Parliament for West Portland, the Honourable Daryl Vaz; representative from the funding agency, Mr Federico Berna, Head of the Rural Development Section of the Delegation of the European Union to Jamaica; and Mayor Floyd Patterson, who is also Councillor for the St. Margaret’s Bay Division in which Bath Springs Road fall.
Speaking on behalf of her community, Mrs Lorraine McPherson recalled that prior to the repairs, the road was inaccessible to motor vehicles. She recounted that many farmers had to take their produce out on their heads and residents had to walk barefooted when it rained. “The repairs have improved the quality of our lives”, she said.
The road, which will be maintained by the Portland Parish Council is one of three projects undertaken in the parish including the rehabilitation of the Forty Acres Road and the renovation and expansion of the Hopewell Water Treatment Facility. This forms part of a larger project in partnership with Parish Councils in the parishes of St. James, St. Catherine, St. Thomas, Portland, and St. Mary and in association with the Office of the Prime Minister/Department of Local Government. These state agencies were awarded a J$211M (EURO€1.9M) Grant Contract: SEI-2005/1-2 – Rural Economic and Social Infrastructure Support Project (RESISP) for Jamaica’s Traditional Banana Growing Parishes/Communities by the European Union Banana Support Programme (EUBSP), a project funded by the European Union Special Framework of Assistance (SFA).