Sweet Vale folk welcome road plans as decades of delays take toll

Residents of Sweet Vale, commonly known as Sweet Bottom, St George, on Tuesday expressed cautious optimism that long-promised road repairs will finally become a reality, after decades of deteriorating conditions, worsened by repeated delays, have led to the mounting cost of vehicle damage.

Barbados TODAY traversed the rugged road, pockmarked with potholes and craters, to meet villagers who also described flooding, narrow roadways and safety hazards they said have affected generations.

Ricardo Sellman, 69, noted signs that work could soon begin following discussions with officials from the Ministry of Transport and Works.

“Well, it’s in the process of getting done. I think the next week or so you should start,” he said.

Sellman explained that he had spoken with officials supervising the project:

“He told me there’s gonna be another town hall meeting… then they have to get a person from MTW and an engineer.” Another meeting was expected soon, he added.

While he suggested the road should have been given priority, he acknowledged that the work is complex, having part of his home located where the road is to be widened.

“They have a lot of digging to do, so you can’t just do it…. If you look at the road there, you see the poles and all kinds of things. I don’t know how they gonna get it work out here by my house.”

For Justin McCarthy, however, the condition of the road reflects decades of neglect:

“My mom said she was 14 years old when this road was done… All this road is only patches. It’s not even a road. It’s a compilation of patches, basically.”

He has never seen a full reconstruction, he said.

“From the time I was born… this is about three generations. But it needs to be done.”

The deteriorating surface has been expensive for motorists:

“I burst the radiator, and I had to change all four tyres within the last couple of weeks… costing me a lot of money, I could tell you that.”

Although machinery had previously arrived in the area, the work never progressed:

“They brought all kinds of equipment, and they were starting to dig up the road… after elections all the materials… disappeared. Same roads still here.”

The St George North constituents have repeatedly been promised improvements:

“People have been talking about doing this for us for the last 20 years. Nobody ain’t coming forward… This is madness.”

Tristan Joseph, 38, said the poor road conditions create daily safety concerns for both motorists and pedestrians:

“Some of the issues we facing here is the potholes, the amount of water the road does keep and it’s extremely small and dangerous for the kids that running around.”

Even placing garbage bins outside has become hazardous because of the limited road width:

“Three rearview mirrors that got broken off hitting the garbage cans. Plus, a bus had connected one of the garbage cans, so we had to shift them out of the road a little bit.”

Joseph also pointed to longstanding drainage problems:

“The water comes from three different areas… and it all comes through this gap… but the well is completely full up with mud, so it ain’t sucking any water.”

The road has remained in poor condition throughout his lifetime:

“I am 38, and the road was like this for 38 years, and it just get worse. They come, they put in the asbestos in the ground and by the time [it rains] it… washes right back out.”

He also questioned why previous surveys had not led to construction:

“Multiple times they came, and they put down stuff and never start. Every time election come up, they come, and they put down stakes.”

Joseph said residents also face risks from speeding traffic and the narrow roadway.

“These electric bus, them dangerous… you don’t realise these electric buses coming… especially around corners and smaller roads.”

An elderly resident who has lived in Sweet Vale all his life said the junction has long posed dangers and believes a roundabout is necessary:

“I’s the body that asks for a roundabout because they’re talking about putting markings and I tell them, no, no, no.”

Recalling two near collisions, he said: “I nearly killed a woman there at that junction twice… she refused to stop.”

He said he later contacted officials directly.

In a statement, the Ministry of Transport and Works confirmed that Sweet Vale is among the roads scheduled for reconstruction under a road rehabilitation programme funded by the CAF – the Development Bank of Latin America.

A roundabout is also planned for the area, the ministry added, but a start date has not yet been set because boundary surveys, consultations with residents, drainage mitigation measures and final designs are still being completed.

Pothole patching will be carried out in the interim before reconstruction begins, the ministry said.
(LE)