Road blocks continued last week as residents from several communities in a section of St. Mary continued to register their protest over lack of piped water for weeks now.On Wednesday and Thursday, August 26 and 27, the residents again blocked the main road from Highgate to Guys Hill to press for provision of water in their pipes. They have complained that attempts by the authorities to truck water to them have not been good enough, following protests the previous week.As in the previous protests, they used tree trunks and branches, stones and other debris to mount the blockades.
Last week’s roadblocks marked a continuation of protest over previous weeks.The road blocks have been taking place in communities such as Frazerwood, Dean Pen, Mosquito Hole, Tremolsworth, Harmony Hall and Esher.
Vehicular traffic between Highgate and Guys Hill had been affected for hours on Thursday, August 27 and traffic had been also affected between Highgate and Port Maria with residents blocking the roadway in Harmony Hall.
Two weeks of protest for water
The roadways were first blocked starting on Monday, August 17, with another minor protest staged on Thursday, August 20, and another massive protest on Friday, August 21 that saw no movement of vehicular traffic between the Highgate and Guys Hill route.
Over the days of the protests, motorists and other commuters had experienced long delays and also have had to use other routes to get home. Often those routes have been blocked off after being cleared by police.
“We don’t get any wata for about four, five months. It nuh come good years now. We haffi block it. People get wata down Frazerwood yesterday and see dem block it again dis morning… We need likkle wata to now,” explained a resident of Dean Pen from one of the affected communities.The road blocks lasted for some hours and was later cleared by the St. Mary police. A source attached to the Highgate police informed The Times that the road blocks have severely affected the resources of the police and reinforcement personnel had to be called in to assist with the situation. Residents were promised by the police that they would receive water from NWC trucks as soon as possible.
