MP wants action on SE St Mary infrastructure
Published:Thursday | June 12, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
A GOVERNMENT backbencher has used the Sectoral Debate to call for immediate attention to the physical infrastructure in the constituency he represents, telling legislators that at times he has felt ashamed to the point of crying.
Dr Winston Green, a first-time member of parliament, said in the House of Representatives on Tuesday that despite the limited fiscal space which restricts the ability of the Government to execute projects, there are areas in his South East St Mary constituency which require urgent attention.
Green pointed, for example, at an area along the Camberwell Road where he said a precipice exists. He said so bad is the area that residents have taken it upon themselves to gather stones, collect monies and purchase cement to effect repairs.
"They have started to construct a makeshift retaining wall, just so that children going to or returning from school in their gleeful, playing style won't fall over the breakaway," Green said, while telling fellow legislators that his constituency "needs a lifeline and we need it now".
He said that the Camberwell Road is just one example of the poor state of infrastructure in his constituency. According to Green, the Rosemount Road is non-existent as it has been in a state of disrepair for several years now.
Bamboo stretcher
"Last year, an elderly woman was seriously ill and had to be carried on a makeshift bamboo stretcher for miles as no vehicle could go up there. The precipices are now very treacherous; the rocks that were feet down are more and more exposed," the MP said.
He said further that during recent Labour Day activities, he felt "utterly ashamed" to see residents of Brainerd, men, women and children, digging down the hillside, collecting soil and using it to fill the massive potholes in the road.
"The men were digging and loading in bags while the women and children were burdened like donkeys carrying the soil to the potholes in the road. Not only was I ashamed, but more so, I felt sorry for them so much so I felt like crying. I am overwhelmed and I am speaking out," Green said.
He added: "All is not well and I have said it in other forums, but the people who put me here have asked me to say it here, and since I don't represent myself I have to accede to their instructions."