Scores of residents in Spring Avenue Fishing Village in Maracas Bay have seen an improvement in their quality of life with the completion and handover of a road to access their homes.
When rain fell, families who lived along Spring Avenue could barely get to their homes without the constant fear of injury.
On Friday, the National Commission for Self Help Limited handed over a newly-paved concrete road to residents of the area.
The Minister of Sport and Community Development, Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis, said the concrete road and accompanying box drains cost over $700,000.
“It’s the little projects like these that make the world of difference. Often times we don’t pay attention or we don’t know that you also have access to come together as a community and lobby and rally for these little infrastructural projects in your area.”
Member of Parliament for St. Ann’s East, Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, said the new roadway will have a positive effect on the residents of the area.
“This road that may look like a small road to some, means so much to the people who have to traverse this area. When I came here and I saw the track and at that time, Popo La, who has passed on but her family is still here, she was advocating that she wants to be able to walk up that hill a little easier, for her people to drive up the hill.”
The grandson of Popo La, Romnel Chrysostom, said it means a lot to him that he can drive his vehicle all the way to his door.
“I could remember carrying up my grandmother on a chair. I had to get fellas to help side by side because she couldn’t walk in the later half, to carry her up the hill and bring her back down. If the ambulance come, we had to carry her down. She passed away and gone, she is no longer with us but, at least now, the ambulance could have gone straight up.”
The Minister said the project, the first for fiscal 2024 to 2025, was completed on time and within budget.