Frustrated St Andrew residents decry poor roads, prolonged water outages

Residents of King’s Street, St Simons, are expressing growing anger over the state of their roads and a prolonged water outage, which they say began on National Heroes Day.

The community was initially hopeful when informed that C.O. Williams Construction, the sub-contractor for the Scotland District Road Rehabilitation Programme, would resume works on 17 March. The project was expected to last one month, but residents say it has now overrun the initial timeline with no clear end in sight.

Residents have to use wheelbarrows to get water to their homes.

To add to their frustration, the area has been plagued by a persistent lack of running water.

With the main road still impassable, residents have been forced to use wheelbarrows to transport water from tankers into the community, a daily ordeal that has taken a physical and emotional toll.

“This is a very serious situation,” said one resident who gave his name as Ricky.

“The road is taking too long, and I think they do not have enough resources and people working on the job. We are human beings as well. There is no access to an ambulance to get across that side, a fire truck, water truck, garbage truck, nothing.”

Another resident, who declined to be named, criticised what he sees as poor work ethic on-site.

“People come to work on a morning, at all hours of the morning, and before 12 o’clock they are gone,” he claimed. “The road gone, the water gone, the next thing to go now is the light.”

He added, “If a fire had to take place at any given moment, or any elderly person had to take sick down here, there is nowhere that a fire truck could get across the road.”

Although an alternative route was created to improve access, residents say it is not suitable for most vehicles.

The road which is difficult to traverse for cars.

St Clair King, proprietor of the Cool Air Bar, explained, “It is too hilly and only 4x4s can pass through there. A fellow with a car cannot get out. It is difficult, and even the people that live beyond the breakaway – to get water in, you have to walk at least three miles to get water to the other point.”

Despite assurances that water service would resume on Friday night, residents awoke on Saturday morning to dry taps once again.

“No road, no water,” said one visibly upset female resident. “It is ridiculous. I think that they think we ain’t nobody down here.”

She added that her ability to carry out basic tasks has been severely impacted.

“I have animals. They supplied us with some water for the animals, which was great, I don’t have a problem with that but you see now [it’s a problem] to cook and to wash and to bathe. Weekends, I am a woman who loves to wash from my head down, all of my clothes would be done wash.”

Standing by her outdoor sink with a bucket of water, she continued, “I have to pick up a few things that I need and wash. This is not right. I have to be taking up all my bottles that I got inside to use for this.”

She also pointed to the effects of the water shortage on her garden: “I plant little things in the ground, and I can’t get a little water and some of them are drying up.”

The infrequency of water tankers has only deepened frustrations. “I think it should come every day in this area. We did not get any water yesterday (Friday), and I have not seen it this morning yet.”

Residents are also grappling with unreliable public transport. They report inconsistent bus schedules and lengthy commutes.

“They do not send the bus on time. Thursday, they did not have a five o’clock bus — it came around six. I got home at eight o’clock because the bus had to divert two places, which I think is too much. It takes two hours to get home from town.”

Another commuter criticised the allocation of buses, saying, “Large buses are sent to areas like Holders Hill where there is not as heavy a demand,” leaving some in St Andrew stranded or struggling to access reliable transport.