The stealing of manhole covers along Burke Road is being blamed in part on scrap metal thieves.

Since the start of the year, several manhole covers have been stolen from Burke Road and have cost the National Works Agency (NWA) $1.6 million to replace.

Douglas Moodie, St Catherine parish manager for the NWA said that persons have removed grilles from the area and this has affected pedestrian traffic along the busy thoroughfare.

He added that vehicles such as trucks sometimes drive on the sidewalk causing damage.

Consequently, the grilles become damaged and have to be replaced.

Pedestrians, however, com-plained that more needs to be done as several of these areas are covered with garbage and dirty water which make using the road difficult.

"I think that more needs to be done as blind persons, the elderly and also several young children have to use this piece of road and it has proven difficult," remarked a female pedestrian.

Meanwhile, the parish manager said the NWA will continue to monitor the situation with a view to reinstalling the covers as soon as possible.

When contacted, the head of the St Catherine North Police Division, Superintendent Terrence Bent, said, "For the areas in Spanish Town that the manhole covers are being removed, we can only patrol those areas and we are doing our best at this point."

He added, "I would also encourage the NWA to try and find other things to make the manholes as it is difficult to monitor every manhole cover."