AOPT calls on BWA to properly restore roads

The Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) is claiming that passengers traveling on some public service vehicles (PSVs) are sustaining physical injuries due to unrestored roads left by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA).

Chairman of AOPT, Roy Raphael, complained on Wednesday that drivers who ply a number of routes across the island are confronting “bumps and holes” on roads which were dug up by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) during their ongoing pipe-laying exercises.

Raphael said this was one of the areas of concern identified by PSV members during the association’s recent year in review meeting.

“Some roads, particularly in the area of Apes Hill, Orange Hill, Crab Hill and Pie Corner… these roads, they are laying pipes along these areas, and it makes it very uncomfortable for us, because, when they lay the pipes across the road, the people do not pave the area properly,” Raphael told Barbados TODAY in an interview.

“So, it means that when we travel along those roads it creates a lot of suspension problems for us and a lot of our operators have to end up spending great sums of money to have repairs done.

“We would have suffered tyre losses, and we would have gotten complaints from some of the passengers who say that some of these roads caused them discomfort when operators run into these spots having not seen them beforehand,” Raphael said.

“Some of them complain of sustaining neck injuries because of the magnitude of these road works, and the fact that the contractors would not have placed asphalt upon the road to allow it to be smooth. So, we want to make an appeal to the BWA to ensure that the PSV operators and the traveling public have a way in which we can minimise damage to our vehicles and injuries to those persons who are traveling with us.”

Raphael called on the BWA to work with the association in addressing this issue, complaining that the situation was forcing drivers to divert from their regular routes in order to avoid having to be saddled with high maintenance costs.

“So, we are hoping that within the next couple of weeks we should see some improvement.”

“Last year, we reached out to the Water Authority, especially as it related to Shop Hill, and we would have seen some improvement.

They would have sent out their team and we would have seen some improvement along the Shop Hill area, but obviously, the rain fell and those holes were back in place again,” Raphael lamented.

“So, we are making a public appeal to the water authority on these matters, because it is constant. Wherever they place down a pipe, they do cover it; but it is not in a way in which it causes smooth sailing for us. And we are saying to them, ‘Look, it’s been causing some problems for us and our commuters, which is also causing some of our operators to divert from the area due to the high risk to passengers and to the vehicle.”

When contacted, the BWA said it was looking into the matter. (EJ)