BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - RESIDENTS in the Lower Monkey Hill area are suggesting that a section of road that intersects with another be paved, because it is a route that has proven to be a positive and efficient alternative to the Main Road in getting to Basseterre and some of its surrounding areas.
The road is one that leads south from Millionaire and Nelson Streets in Lower Monkey Hill, with the first 200 metres (approximately) being dirt, and stretches for a little less than half a mile before linking with a long double-lane unnamed paved road on the left.
After travelling for a short distance, this road then links to a winding one that ends at the Main Road just outside the airport runway.
It is an access road that the Lower Monkey Hill residents use regularly, especially during peak hours when the Main Road would be congested.
It also serves as a short cut for getting them from the Main Road into Lower Monkey Hill and vice versa.
The residents believe that paving the road would not only create more traffic flow in that area because more persons would be encouraged to use it more often, but it would also provide a shorter travel distance for the people of that area, especially during the peak hours.
According to residents of the area, paving of the road began sometime in 2004 by Construction Technologies (CONTEC), but the stretch of land that leads south from Millionaire and Nelson Streets for approximately 200 metres remains unpaved.
“This unpaved part of the road poses many problems to us who have vehicles. Whenever the rain falls for long periods, there is erosion which produces potholes that cause damage to our vehicles. In addition to that, passenger buses that take workers and children to and from work and school do not use the road after a period of heavy rainfall and it forces us make our way to the main road,” one resident said.
Another resident claimed that the use of the road significantly reduces the purchasing of gasoline, which brings relief to his pocket, and that “the road also leads to Shadwell and trails that take you to the round-about by Best Buy as well as around the mountain to Cedar Grove. I am therefore pleading with the government not to only pave that stretch of road from Lower Monkey Hill, but also the trails. By paving them, we can all have easier access to lower Monkey Hill and many other places”.
SKNVibes was told that one of the Labour Movement’s stalwarts, the late Fitzroy Bryant, was residing a short distance from the unpaved road and it was envisaged that the thoroughfare would have been named in his honour.
The residents are therefore calling on the authorities to complete the paving of the road, which they claimed would not only save them time but also fuel, hence save them money.
