Bush, trees cleared from path connecting neighbouring Fruitful Hill communities

Within a matter of hours on Saturday, heavy duty machinery from the Soil Conservation Unit cleared away bush and trees from the path that connects the neighbouring Fruitful Hill, St Andrew and Fruitful Hill, St Joseph communities.

After complaining that the village had been cut in half for decades, because the road was affected by a landslide and could not be used since then, residents can now walk the path.

While the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) did substantial work at the top of the hill prior to 2008, the work stopped when the government changed that year, leaving bush and trees to take over the road.

MTW has redone Fruitful Hill road, also impacted by land slippage, and will soon do the same for the upper section, once road works at Dark Hole, St Joseph is completed.

During a tour of the area where the work was taking place, Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s Press Secretary, Roy Morris, said the PM requested that the Unit reopen the road using their equipment, to allow residents to move back and forth.

“But the job of actually rebuilding the road afterwards will revert to MTW,” Morris told members of the media.

Bernard Thompson, Officer in Charge of the Soil Conservation Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, said in following Prime Minister’s Mottley request to clear the area, the Unit has deployed a bulldozer to do the work. Thompson said the work started “from the Cane Garden side of Fruitful Hill, stretching to St Joseph of Fruitful Hill”.

“You would have gone through the area and it is really and truly a task given the fact that outside now is fairly wet. But you would have realized that the job is almost completed.

“Hopefully when MTW starts to look at rebuilding the road, and they need any assistance from Soil Conservation Unit, because the two units actually collaborate with each other when it comes to any work in the Scotland District, we would be readily available to do so,” Thompson said. (AH)