SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth: Residents stage roadblock in The Burnt Savannah to Mountainside main road, which links Santa Cruz to the south-coast resort of Treasure Beach, was blocked late Monday as residents protested the state of the thoroughfare.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015    

SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — The Burnt Savannah to Mountainside main road, which links Santa Cruz to the south-coast resort of Treasure Beach, was blocked late Monday as residents protested the state of the thoroughfare.

residents block road in protest

The St Elizabeth police confirmed late Monday that the protest started about midday with people using boulders and other debris to block the roads.

It has forced travellers from Santa Cruz to Treasure Beach, or vice versa, and points in between to use alternate routes through Black River, Malvern and Junction.

A police spokesman told the Jamaica Observer that help was needed, possibly from the National Works Agency to clear the blockages.

Eyewitness reports late yesterday said many students were among a "pile up" of stranded travellers being forced to walk miles to get home.

This is the latest of several major protests regarding the badly damaged five-mile stretch of roadway between Lacovia and Mountainside. Rain-scoured surfaces, potholes and broken drains have made driving a nightmarish experience.

Member of parliament for southwest St Elizabeth, Hugh Buchanan told the Observer late last year that he has been making repeated representations to have the stretch of main road repaired.

A major water project, which made road renovation unfeasible for sometime was completed last year. more