The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Writer

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Alfred Sears, Minister of Works said his ministry has hired 20 employees to conduct road maintenance - and said it was the first set of employees hired to repair potholes in four years.

Speaking in the House of Assembly, he said: “Just two weeks ago, the ministry engaged in regular employment in the ministry some 20 road maintenance staff who are directly responsible for road patching utilising newly acquired equipment such as trucks and other tools to meet this urgent need.

“This is the first time in over four years that the ministry has been able to engage staff and obtain equipment to address this issue of potholes. I believe that the public will soon see a marked improvement in terms of safer and drivable roads.”

Mr Sears added that ten contractors have also been recruited to supplement the Road Patching Unit and conduct a “massive blitz” to alleviate motorist’s pothole woes.

He said “We are in the process of engaging ten contractors who have demonstrated expertise in pothole patching over the years, to supplement the Ministry’s Road Patching Unit, to begin a massive blitz to address this problem.

“Three contracts have already been signed and the remaining seven are expected to be signed today and work will continue over the next few days and the weeks ahead.”

Mr Sears stated that the rainfall over the past two months have hindered ongoing patching efforts on New Providence and led to larger holes being formed. He maintained that the ministry is committed to ensuring the maintained efforts are completed and that work recommenced last weekend.

He said “The Ministry of Works and Utilities has been monitoring the roads within New Providence and is in the process of increasing pothole patching efforts.

“Due to the more active precipitation events during June and July 2023, the conditions have been hindered current road repairs efforts with ponding and wet areas thereby compromising the quality of repairs. This has resulted in larger potholes and road edge erosions.

“The ministry remains committed to ensuring that road maintenance works continue despite these conditions. We resumed weekend road repair works starting this weekend to eliminate the current road defects backlog. “

During the 2023/2024 Budget contribution, Mr Sears announced that major road works have been budgeted for New Providence. Yesterday, Mr Sears said the roads that will be paved include East Street South, Kennedy Subdivision Road, portions of Bay Street and the Eastern Road.

He said: “In my recent contribution to the Budget debate, I made mention of the fact that my ministry would be undertaking major arterial road re-paving during this fiscal year. This is based on the fact that many of these arterial roads have not been re-paved/reconstructed in over twenty years and this state of affairs has led to some of the pothole conditions that we are experiencing at this time.”

“It is against this background that we will shortly commence the repaving of the following major arterial roads, South Beach Community Roads; Windsor Field Road – Portions; Bay Street between East Street and the Old Bridge; Eastern Road; Winton Highway; Woodland Way; East Street from Palm Tree Avenue to Robinson Road; East Street South; Tonique Darling Highway; Joe Farrington Road; Baillou Hill Road South of Carmichael Road; Baillou Road Between Tonique Darling and Robinson Road; Hospital Lane; Zion Boulevard; Kennedy Subdivision Roads.”

Mr Sears said some roads have been severely damaged sue to drainage issues and will have to be resurfaced instead of being patched. He encouraged the public to send in pothole complaints to the Ministry of Works WhatsApp hotline so the ministry can be made aware of new and widening holes quickly.

He said: “Intersections, such as East Street and Cordeaux Avenue and East Street and Balfour Avenue, that have been severely impacted by poor drainage conditions are being scoped for resurfacing as regular pothole patching repairs are not enough for these areas.”

“We ask the public to continue to send their complaints to the Ministry’s WhatsApp hotline numbers 376-0936 and 557- 3227 as it has been a tremendous assistance in our scoping efforts.”

Shanendon Cartwright, MP for St Barnabas, argued that motorists should be compensated for damage to their vehicles due to potholes and that Bahamians should expect a ‘certain level’ of services from the government.

He said: “The natural expectation of the Bahamian people should be that they pay their taxes and if your car falls into a hole, it really should be the government’s responsibility to compensate the Bahamian people for what happens to that vehicle.”

“At the end of the day, the Bahamian people expect a certain level of service from government services. That’s the point that I’m making.”