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St John Residents Demand Infrastructure Improvements at Government Forum
Residents of St John have called for urgent road repairs, expanded bus services, and vocational training for youth during a government forum, highlighting significant infrastructure issues in their community.
5 min read
Originally published by barbadostoday.bb (opens in new tab)
St John folk issued urgent demands for road repairs, expanded bus services and practical skills training for young people, as ministers acknowledged shortcomings and outlined plans for infrastructure upgrades and new vocational programmes at a government Ideas Forum on Thursday night.
Frustrated residents did not hold back on the state of infrastructure, focusing on deteriorating roads and inadequate bus schedules that isolate rural communities.
St John resident Miss O’Neal compared her local road to a famous landmark while urging the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) to reuse old asphalt from major highway projects to patch community roads.
“My particular road is almost like the Grand Canyon… people live on these small roads that could benefit from something like this. Cars are being damaged—one of my neighbors burst a tire. It’s costing people a lot of money and stress.”
The call for better connectivity was echoed by youth advocate and parish ambassador for St John, 18-year-old Jaden Padmore, along with his committee chairperson, Joan Wiggins. Both campaigned for the extension of the Six Roads bus route.
The current route abruptly cuts off, forcing vulnerable populations to walk long distances under a punishing sun to reach vital services such as the polyclinic or the post office, Wiggins said.
“You’re either sick and unable to walk or you’re elderly, hunched, maybe with a stick, and you can imagine hobbling to get to the polyclinic. We need to help these young people, the young little babies who need to catch that bus as well, and our elderly. We can’t leave them out there struggling.”
Wiggins also used the platform to call for a dedicated constituency team to aggressively eradicate failing pit toilets, citing severe environmental and public health concerns.
Responding directly to transport and infrastructure grievances, Minister of Transport and Works Kirk Humphrey admitted that the current pace of road repairs by the MTW was “not good enough” and announced that major private contractors have been subcontracted to fast-track a comprehensive patching campaign.
Humphrey listed Newcastle, Redlands, Claybury, Clifton Hall, Wilson Hill, Venture and Edgecliffe among the areas targeted for immediate pothole repairs. Addressing the bus route extension, he pledged an imminent review by the Transport Board.
“It stands to reason that if we extend the route to enable people to better access their housing, that’s the thing to do. The mass transit authority that we’re setting in place is going to be responsible for determining the routes… and we’re going to put new legislation in place to ensure that once a route has been assigned, the buses actually go the entirety of the route.”
