BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A Sandy Point man is calling upon the government of St. Christopher and Nevis to address the “hazard to life and property” that exists at the Old Road Bay area.
Arnold Adams spoke with SKNVibes earlier this week, after he encountered difficulty along the road, the third such incident to have occurred within the last year and a half.
He explained that it was about 7:30a.m. and he was travelling towards the direction of Basseterre, when he ran over a stone that had, according to him, rolled off the hillside.
“…I was on my way to work around 7:30a.am, I came across Old Road Bay and I was coming around just before you meet Constance Mitcham’s residence, the car hit a stone that was in the road. The left front and left rear tyres went over it and were torn. There is a bit of a hillside right there and the stone came off of that hill.”
He explained that sometime prior, he had another incident with a stone that came off the hillside.
“A while ago, I was also travellng to work and I was driving across Old Road Bay. There was a bus in front of me. I saw the bus slow down to get away from something but I couldn’t see what it was and then by the time the bus passed it and I realised what it was, it was too late. I couldn’t get away from it. It was a rock that had come off the hill. So I hit it and the tyre was damaged.”
Adams recalled yet another incident which took place during the early-morning hours while he was on his way home.
“Over a year ago, I was going back to Sandy Point in the night, it was probably about 2:00a.m. and a stone came off the hill, maybe about the size of a volley ball. It went under the car, bounced up and hit the bottom of the radiator and cracked the radiator. I had to have it replaced.”
According to Adams, he can recall several other incidents which resulted in damage to property and the loss of life. And while he is grateful that the incidents involving him did not result in personal injury or loss of life, he is making a clarion call to the government to “do something comprehensive and long-term about Old Road Bay. It is a hazard to people’s lives and property. A guy died across there already on a bus…because of a stone that came off the hill…”
Adams reminded that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
