News

Residents block road - Demand hurricane relief

By ARTHUR GREEN, STAR writer

St. Thomas

RESIDENTS OF NINE Miles, Bull Bay, St. Andrew blocked the main road yesterday protesting the lack of domestic water and inadequate rehabilitation support following hurricanes Dennis and Emily.

From as early as 6:00 a.m., traffic backed up for almost two kilometres. The main road in the vicinity of the Chalky River gully where river cleaning work is currently being done by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation and National Works Agency, was blocked with debris by scores of residents.

No attention

Part of the discontent, as one resident remarked, is the lack of attention being given to the number one and number two lanes in the Nine Miles area where residents are still not benefiting from any relief.

The massive crowd, which had to be dispersed by a detachment of police, were not giving in, even after the lawmen pumped tear gas into the air.

The demonstrators, through a spokesperson, said they wanted the Member of Parliament, Joseph Hibbert, to be more visible and communicative.

The brief encounter with the cops was not enough to subdue the crowd, as they remained virtually unmoved and vowed to remount the blockade after the police had cleared it to allow traffic through.