Protest Leaves Portmore Municipality with $200,000 Road Repair Bill

It will cost the Portmore Municipal Council close to $200,000 to effect repairs to the major roads in the municipality, which were damaged due to protest action on Monday, September 5.
The damage was caused from the lighting of fires in the roads, the dragging of heavy debris across the surface to mount blockages, and the removal of such debris by heavy equipment, which caused scarring of the road surface.
Colin Fagan, Deputy Mayor and Councillor for the Edgewater Division, said “it was unfortunate that the planned protest action ended up costing the Council close to $200,000,” and pointed out that, “despite advice against that type of protest action, the organizers went ahead with the planned street protest and now it is the Council that is left with the clean-up and repair bill”. “In addition, aside from the cost to effect repairs, the damage to the road surface would pose serious annoyance to road users,” he added.
Councillor Fagan, who was speaking at the monthly general Council meeting in Portmore Pines yesterday (Sept.14), said that “substantial repairs” would have to be effected to roads in areas such as Naggos Head, Newlands Villa and to the stretch of road dubbed I-95.
He called on the Council to adopt a resolution condemning the action of the organizers of the protest and said the money for the repairs could have been used to finance other important activities.