Beacon of the day | St Mary Residents Join Forces, Repair Community Road
January 21, 2022“We will not sit down and wait on the politicians,” asserted Shannon Danhi-Adams, public relations officer of Frontier Phase 2 Citizens’ Association.
She noted that, when the residents came together to get the work done, both their Member of Parliament Dr. Morais Guy and Councillor Germaine Smiley pitched in.
“The councillor and the MP gave us a little assistance. It wasn’t much, but we are still happy for what we have received,” said Abigail Boota, a volunteer. “It is not only them that we are relying on to come forth and do the project; we are actually making an effort so that our community can be a better place.”
Residents donated sand and gravel, Danhi-Adams told The Beacon.
They also raised funds to offset some of the costs, which includes the purchasing of cement to fill potholes.
“We printed some tickets and asked persons to contribute $500 for [each of] them. They get nothing in return and so it is pretty much a contribution. Even persons who live outside of Frontier Phase 2 contributed to us. Those are the money we used to purchase the cement and other stuff,” Danhi-Adams said.
Families set aside their usual Sunday chores and relaxation on November 21, 2021 and hit the streets in numbers – many carrying machetes, shovels and other tools.
While they feasted and engaged in lively banter, they repaired sections of the road and got rid of shrubs from parts of the district.
“The thing about Frontier Phase 2 is that community spirit is here and unity is here,” Danhi-Adams said. “The workday was a Sunday, and persons normally would have been at home doing all sorts of things. But everybody was out in their numbers. Everybody was playing their part because we the residents want to have a comfortable place to live.”
According to Danhi-Adams, it is not the first time that residents are working together to gradually improve the infrastructure in their community.
They did it as recently as Labour Day last year. Some of them also sporadically carry out minor repairs, not waiting for a planned get-together.
Boota, who described the roads in her community as deplorable, expressed hope that another major work-day will take place in the near future.
The repairs, she noted, are particularly beneficial to motorists who have to fork out funds frequently to purchase parts damaged by the bad roads.
“We wish we could have gotten further up in the community with the work in November, but the resources never allowed us to. The community is peaceful and quiet and it is unfortunate to have such bad roads,” Boota lamented.
She was also critical of the Housing Agency of Jamaica, which she accused of selling residents land in Frontier Phase 2 without fulfilling its promise of providing them with proper amenities such as roads and potable water.
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