A St James taxi operator says the deplorable state of the Montpelier main road is eating away at his earnings, forcing him to spend $30,000 to $40,000 each week on vehicle repairs. The driver, identified only as Junior, said constant damage to his bus’s front-end and back-end parts, caused by potholes and rough terrain, has also cost him two trips daily. 

Road rage

Poor conditions along Montpelier thoroughfare causing distress, anger among St James residents and motorists

Jamaica Gleaner/18 Oct 2025/Christopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer 

A section of the Montpelier roadway through Mt Carey in St James. Residents and motor vehicle operators have complained about the poor condition of the roadway, which is resulting in longer commute times.

DESPITE A promise that repairs to the Montpelier main road, in St James, will begin before the end of the year, residents continue to express anger and frustration over the existing conditions. Among the vexing issues is a pothole-riddled road surface, pools of muddy water whenever it rains, and a challenging dust nuisance when the time is dry.

The poor state of the road sparked a protest by transport operators and residents on September 15, who joined forces in venting their disgust about the challenges they face during their daily commute, which they describe as a costly and time-consuming nightmare.

Sherrica Thompson, a teacher at Irwin High School, said that despite leaving home for work in the early hours of each day, she is left feeling physically drained as the normally 40-minute trip can stretch into hours because of the poor road conditions, which regularly reduces traffic to a crawl.

“Last year [2024], I got to school late every day because of the road. I would leave home about 6 or 6:30, and by the time I reach Montego Bay to get a drive to go to Irwin, it was a lot to deal with. Nowadays, I am carpooling with a colleague to go to work, and the traffic is still an issue,” said Thompson.

“In the evenings I have to take a drive to get home, and I cannot get any drive because the vehicles are not running. If I do get a drive, by the time I get to Anchovy [en route to Montpelier], there is traffic, and by the time I get home, I am so tired and drained,” continued Thompson. “The road is really bad, and the issue was addressed one week after the general election was held [on September 3], and there is still no update.”

Sheca Windette-thorpe, who works at the Anchovy High School’s Dr Fidel Castro Campus in Montpelier, said the roadway in the community has worsened since work began on the laying of pipes for a water project in the area.

“The roads leading to the campus have been in a very deplorable state since last school year, and things have gotten even worse since they dug up a portion of the road to install water pipes. Proper repairs have not been done since,” said Windette-thorpe. “What used to be a 15-minute ride from Anchovy can now take well over an hour, as vehicular traffic has now been reduced to a snail’s pace.”

DAMAGING OF VEHICLE

One bus operator, who gave his name as Junior, said the road condition is challenging for him as it puts him at risk of spending thousands of dollars to replace damaged motor vehicle parts.

“I run the Bethel Town route to Westmoreland, and the road condition is trouble. I am losing two trips every day, and the schoolkids are reaching school late and are getting locked out for being late,” he said. “Every weekend I have to check for damaged front-end parts to be replaced. It costs me between $30,000 to $40,000 weekly for maintenance of front-end and back-end parts.”

The Montpelier to Cambridge roadway was one of several roads in the St James Southern constituency which were identified in 2024 for rehabilitation under the Relief Emergency Assistance and Community Help (REACH) Programme, being spearheaded by the National Works Agency (NWA). Before that, the roadway was one of 10 thoroughfares in the constituency which were slated to be fixed before the end of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, at a cost of $40 million.

When contacted, Nekeisha Burcell, the member of parliament for St James Southern, said she has received a commitment from the NWA that rehabilitative work on the road will be carried out over the next two weeks.

“We are optimistic that the NWA will hold to the two weeks’ starting date of October 14, to get some work done, because principals from schools in the area, plus families and businesses, have been complaining bitterly. It does not only affect South St James and its residents, but it also affects persons going to Hanover and Westmoreland, because that roadway is a major corridor,” she said.

THE DAILY inconvenience faced by motorists and pedestrians who traverse the Montpelier main road in St James is set to end soon, as the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) has confirmed that road reinstatement work is scheduled to begin on November 1.

The disruption, caused by ongoing underground pipeline installation, has been a major source of frustration for commuters.

However, JSIF Managing Director Omar Sweeney told The Gleaner on Wednesday that the project is now entering its final phase.

“We are currently doing the final testing of the pipelines, which has to be observed as well by the NWC, and we are about 60 per cent complete in that regard. We expect to be completed by the end of this month (October),” said Sweeney.

The project is being jointly executed by JSIF, the National Water Commission (NWC), and the National Works Agency (NWA).

Sweeney noted that while the pipeline work is not yet fully completed, road rehabilitation will begin beforehand to reduce further delays for residents and commuters.

“We are not waiting until all the pipeline is completed before we start the road reinstatement. We are taking measures now, working with the NWA to start the road reinstatement on November 1,” he said.

He also acknowledged that parts of the Montpelier corridor have deteriorated beyond the immediate area of pipeline work. As a result, JSIF and the NWA are coordinating efforts to ensure a more comprehensive rehabilitation of the roadway.

“There are deteriorations on the road that is not related to the pipeline works. What we want to do is to ensure that any further inconvenience only lasts one time. We are combining efforts so that the pipeline reinstatement and any other potholes or repairs will take place at the same time,” Sweeney explained.

GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development, Robert Morgan, reinforced the Government’s commitment to completing the rehabilitation once the technical work is finalised.

“We will fix the Montpelier Road; that’s a commitment you have from me as the minister and from the prime minister. We plan our projects, we budget our projects, and we have a budget to fix that road,” Morgan said.

The Montpelier project is part of a broader multi-million-dollar infrastructure programme aimed at upgrading roadways, drainage, and water systems in western Jamaica. The initiative falls under the government’s 10-year National Infrastructure Development Plan.

On Tuesday, Member of Parliament for St James Southern, Nekeisha Burchell, updated constituents via Facebook, noting that progress is being made on the longawaited road repairs between Montpelier and Anchovy.

According to Burchell, E. G. Hunter, CEO of the NWA, has confirmed that remedial work on the corridor has already been scoped and costed.

“This is not a promise without action. It is the result of an ongoing effort to ensure that the people of St James Southern receive the infrastructure they deserve,” she said, crediting “continuous advocacy and persistence” for the breakthrough.

However, Morgan pushed back on the suggestion that community pressure or recent protests were responsible for the timeline, stating the rehabilitation was always part of the government’s infrastructure plan.

“We welcome advocacy, advocacy is good,” said Morgan. “But as a responsible government, we plan our projects, we budget our projects, and we have a budget to fix that road.”

 

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