COUSINS COVE, Hanover — Local Government and Rural Development Minister Desmond McKenzie has promised the people of Hanover Western that the Government will find solutions to a raft of social issues affecting several communities.

In Prosper and West Avenue in Lucea, Cousins Cove Backroad, Cousins Cove New Town, and Green Island, for example, residents have had to live with almost unusable roads, inconsistent water supply, and infrequent garbage collection. Help is on the way, the local government minister has vowed.

“The Government is committed to correcting these wrongs. These people have been loyal to somebody else for decades with nothing to show, and it is up to this Government,” McKenzie said.

“The Member of Parliament [for Hanover Western, Tamika Davis] is just new; she has been in the job for three years. Looking at the conditions that I saw, these conditions have been there for decades — not since she became a Member of Parliament. And, as I said before, we are moving to ensure that we address many of the problems that we see in this section of the constituency,”

His comments came after a recent tour of several communities which, he said, Davis asked him to visit.

The minister took note of the shoddy roads that have plagued Prosper and West Avenue for years, and pointed out that there is nothing to indicate that there was any effort, from the local level, to have them fixed.

“I am surprised that nowhere in the Hanover Municipal Corporation [HMC] there is an estimate on any of the two roads. I am surprised — and that is saying a lot,” said McKenzie.

He gave a commitment that the HMC’s technical team would prepare estimates and forward them to the local government ministry. McKenzie cautioned that the cost of the project will determine if it has to be put to public tender, which would lengthen the process.

“Once the estimates have come in and we are satisfied, we will commence the process. So, I am not going to say next week or the following week or the next month; it is going to take some time,” the minister cautioned.

Turning his issue to water woes within the community of Cousins Cove New Town, McKenzie promised immediate action.

“The community has been complaining that for more than 10-15 years they have the pipes running through their communities and there is no water in the pipes except once a week — and sometimes it is not there. I have already contacted minister [with responsibility for water] Matthew Samuda who has committed to having someone from the [National] Water Commission come in to the area to see what is happening and to take immediate steps to correct that situation,” he promised.

He also assured residents that the Government is committed to rectifying the build-up of garbage seen in a number of communities.

MP Davis explained that the minister was invited to get a first-hand look at some of the issues affecting the constituency, issues she had already highlighted on behalf of those she represents.

“So, essentially, there are roads, water and garbage collection — if we were to reduce it to those three. Not that they are the only ones, mind you, [but] those are the three that come to the fore more often than not,” Davis said.

“I am delighted to hear that attention will be paid to places like the cemetery road, which is actually West Avenue but we commonly call it the cemetery road, and we all know that it is well traversed. The Rusea’s High School is close by and so the students would use that road in the evenings to get into the town and its neighbouring communities. By itself, there are houses, as you know, on the opposite side of the road so it is integral to the communities and to the parish at large,” she stated.

“The NSWMA [National Solid Waste Management Authority] is here and they have already undertaken to see how best they can better schedule the pickup of garbage in our areas,” Davis added.