A storm of protest action is brewing once again in Airy Hill, St George, over a resident who blocked a decades-old road from his neighbours; and they are not backing down until an amicable solution is found.
The residents are seeking legal counsel but on Saturday they protested in front of the resident’s newly erected fence to voice their frustration about the blocked road.
Central to their collective concerns is that the road, which was built by Carl Rayside, is a main artery for residents who walk and catch the bus, though it is a privately-owned path.
Residents reported they have to walk an extra kilometre minimum or an extra mile with the road now blocked.
Resident Vicki Wilson said that she, with the support of her Attorney, will be fighting to keep the road open, as it has been over the last half century.
“We are prepared to fight him, if we have to go to Trinidad to the high court to get this fence down, it is coming down. I have been living in this community for too long to see the people have to suffer like this,” she said in a shaken voice.
Wilson also drew reference to the fact the blocked road can cause access issues for the Barbados Light and Power.
“Along here there are poles and these transformers, which provide electricity to a very wide area in Airy Hill. One time I had an issue where I had surges and in order for them to fix the problem, they had to come down to this pole and fix one of these transformers, so if one of those transformers have a problem I will be without electricity [and all other surrounding residents],” she explained.
Some of the older residents said that they have to walk all around, which is about half hour or more, when they were accustomed to using the shortcut from their younger years.
Elderly resident David Belgrave told Barbados TODAY that he was using the road daily to catch the Transport Board buses and was barely managing to walk all around because he is no longer able to use the road.
“I am being totally impacted because I have two feet that are not in order, the knees are swollen and I have some veins that when they begin to swell I get pain and that pain begins to get overbearing. I was living in Airy Hill for over 50 years and I came and found this [track],” he said.
Belgrave shared that he grew up seeing public access to the track.
“I came and I found what you would call a track and then it became usable that you can travel day or night and from the main road in Airy Hill, this little track saves you alot,” he reported.
Resident Donna Byer said that they were not asking for much and needed to be met halfway in finding a proper solution.
“We have children who go to school, we have people who work shifts and have to catch the midnight bus – and it is not safe, you have no house lights or neighbours. I want to see a pathway created, it does not have to be six feet, it could be three feet just that we can walk up and down, that’s all we ask,” she said.
Meanwhile, resident of the area and technical advisor to the Barbados Water Authority John Mwansa said that the obstructed path will also be a big issue especially when flooding occurs.
“My issue with this gate is that it only forces one entrance and one exit by vehicle. Additionally, the other entrance that goes to the top of this area has an area of depression that gets flooded, so when this is open, people could divert and come here and go up and avoid the floods. Now there is only one way to go,” he explained.
The blocked road forces residents to have to travel to Charles Rowe Bridge and when it’s flooded the situation is worsened.
“If this gate is open we have one other exit out of Airy Hill and so from an emergency standpoint it is very important that we keep this passage open,” the technical advisor added.
Representative of the area Tony Moore, was unable to provide a comment.
Constituency assistant Krystal Smith said that they recognized the issue, which “hinders the people of Airy Hill”, and promised that Moore is aware of the issue and will look into it once more though it’s in the hands of an attorney. (MR)
