Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer
The pictures above show damaged sections of the main road leading into Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth. - Contributed photos
It's a village that has gained a well-earned reputation as an ideal destination. It regularly stages many well-attended events - an international literary festival, a jazz festival, a triathlon, a fishermen's regatta, wholesome comedy nights, etc. It is also home to hundreds of fishing families and tourist villas, attracting visitors in search of its relaxing, rejuvenating atmosphere.
The problem is that Treasure Beach in St. Elizabeth, the 'home of community tourism', cannot be easily accessed these days via the main road leading into the village. The alternatives are not much better.
Severely undermined by Hurri-cane Ivan and other storms in 2004 and 2005, the roadway below the police station at the entrance to the community is now a treacherous obstacle course.
Previous repairs have failed, the surface quickly washed away by runoffs from rains in the hills above. The result is a rocky, undulating subsurface, with large sections eaten away due to the absence of a drainage system and retaining walls.
Described as a 'bridle track' by some residents, passage along this poorly-lit roadway is most dangerous at nights when several vehicles have crashed into adjoining premises.
First-time visitors to Treasure Beach are taken aback when first they behold this 'gateway' to their much-cherished holiday destination. Repeat visitors are bemused at the apparent neglect.
Just getting worse
"They just can't believe that the road they saw a year ago is in the same condition, or worse than their last visit," Sylvan James, who transports visitors from the international airports, told The Gleaner.
Kory South, owner of Sunset Villa, has similarly grown accustomed to getting an earful from his guests.
"I get a lot of high-end guests at my hotel and they are just appalled and ask me (as a member of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association) how come these roads have not been fixed," he said.
In his defence, South explains that he and other villa operators have written many letters to the authorities and have followed up with telephone calls, to no avail.
Much of the attention is now fixed on the National Works Agency (NWA) which has responsibility for the country's primary road network.
When contacted by The Gleaner, Stephen Shaw, communi-cations manager at the NWA, candidly admitted that plans for the restoration of the road had not been completed. He promised, however, that the matter would be taken up early in September.
The options
There were a number of options being considered, Shaw disclosed. These, he said, included the possibility of diverting the road immediately below the police station, through what is currently private property. Creating a new, straight stretch of roadway, he said, would circumvent the need to embark on costly drainage works along the deep bend of the existing alignment.
Shaw reiterated, however, that no decision had been made yet on the matter, as the costs attendant on each option had to be carefully considered.
This promise of action in September comes months after irate residents blocked the road, in a short-lived protest, in April. The local police, acting swiftly, brought a halt to their demonstration.
That protest did elicit a promise of action by the NWA. Action that is still pending.
George Deleon, president of the Citizens Alert Group of Treasure Beach, which led the protest, is disillusioned: "We keep getting excuses as to why no action has been taken and we are getting frustrated."
