Negril business operators appeal for work on West End road following flooding

 

Business operators in Negril, Westmoreland are calling for the authorities to give immediate attention to the West End main road.

 

Heavy rains lashing the western end of the island resulted in high tide and flooding and caused a section of the roadway to collapse after a retaining wall was washed away.

 

This has forced several business owners in the area to suspend operations.

 

Former Chairman of the Negril Chamber of Commerce Richard Wallace said he has not seen the situation this bad in all his years in Negril. 

 

"The waves are coming in, it's washing up boats on the shore and the wind is very strong. I know it is affecting all businesses in Negril, everybody that's on the seaside. The West End is very bad. Some massive waves are crashing on the sea up there, all the businesses are closed on the seaside. On the beach, everybody is affected, all the hotels, all the large hotels, small hotels, small businesses, everybody is affected," he disclosed. 

 

Hotelier Lee Issa said the authorities have not heeded the calls of the business owners to give attention to the roadway. 

 

"We have been talking to the mayor, we have been talking to the MP for the area, and we have been talking to the National Works Agency for the past couple of years telling them that sea wall is going to give way the next time we have rough seas, which we are now experiencing here in Negril. The road is becoming slowly impassable. We have to be riding on the sidewalk to roll from the town up to the West End. We have a lot of people are holidaying here and this is what we have to put up with."

 

He urged the government to "get cracking on it right away and do something before it gets any worse".