Mayor pleads for road safety as crash deaths climb in St. Catherine

 

With at least eight road fatalities in St. Catherine since last Friday, there is another call for motorists to drive with care.

 

This time, the call comes from Spanish Town Mayor Norman Scott.

 

James Morgan and Nicholas Creary, both mechanics from the parish, became the latest crash victims following a collision on the McCooks Pen main road on Wednesday night.

 

The men died after the car in which they had been travelling crashed head on into a vehicle that was in the opposite lane.

 

It's reported that the crash occurred when Mr. Creary, who had been driving, swerved to avoid a collision with another vehicle, whose driver had swerved to avoid a pothole.

 

Mayor Scott is urging motorists to be more vigilant, especially in light of less than ideal road conditions. 

 

"Yes, the roadways deteriorate, no road marking, no lighting in some areas. Of course, those are issues. But if, as motorists, we leave early and drive slow, it will prevent a great amount of the accidents which lead to fatalities," he advised. 

 

Over the last eight days, two pedestrians died after they were hit by vehicles in separate incidents in St. Catherine. On Friday, a firefighter died in a crash in Angels, and on Saturday, a taxi driver and two passengers perished in a crash on Brunswick Avenue.

 

In the meantime, a taxi operator has called for the authorities to fix the pothole that reportedly led to Wednesday night's fatal crash on the McCooks Pen main road.

 

The cab driver, who spoke with Radio Jamaica News correspondent Devon Fletcher, said the problem has existed for some time. 

 

 

Prime Minister Andrew Holness launched a road rehabiliation programme, dubbed REACH, at the end of August. Mr. Holness said the $3 billion initiative is designed to address critical road infrastructure needs across Jamaica.

 

It will focus specifically on damage caused by recent weather events, including Hurricane Beryl, as well as the execution of routine road maintenance.

 

The initiative will be managed by the National Works Agency and executed in two phases with Phase 1 running from September to November and Phase 2 covering January to March 2025.

 

NWA Communication and Customer Services Manager Stephen Shaw said motorists can expect to see work under REACH starting as early as this weekend. 

 

"We have sought to engage some teams because we recognise the challenges that persons have been having in using, especially our main roads. There are going to be some parochial roads that are going to be impacted. I'm aware that the Prime Minister has written to all the members of Parliament in respect to the community roads aspect of the programme. And those MPs are to liaise with the NWA as we put one programme together, meaning both parochial roads and main roads, with a view to improving the situation right across the country," he said.