NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Village Road business owners have hit out at the Ministry of Works once again, expressing their disappointment over the ministry’s refusal to engage them over their concerns regarding the Village Road Improvement Project.
Michael Fields, spokesperson for the Village Road Business Collective and President of the Four Walls Squash & Social in an open letter to Works Minister Alfred Sears said that Village Road businesses were surprised by Minister Sear’s recent remarks in which he indicated that remedial work is being done on resident and business driveways and parking lots that were damaged during the reconstruction of Village Road.
Fields said that businesses have failed to receive a reply to their communications requesting an official update on the project and a meeting to discuss the concerns of the business community.
“It is difficult to understand why the Ministry of Works refuses to engage in an open and transparent dialogue with the business community, and why our discussions with the Ministry of Finance seem to be an excuse for avoiding answering any questions or providing any official updates on a project that is now seven months delayed and 15 months in, with no end in sight,” Fields stated.
Fields contended that there is no evidence of any remedial work currently being done. “We see fractured projects popping up from time to time in different places. For example, a few temporary stripping marks were placed in one area, but have since washed away. We see work randomly starting and stopping. As an example, for about three days last month, we noticed demolition work on a small portion of the sidewalk on the southern end, but that work stopped about two weeks ago. Later, we heard jackhammering on the northern end. There appears to be no structure, consistency or clear work plan.
“The project is haphazard and disorganized. There is no timeline, and we have no clue what the scope of the remaining work entails,” said Fields, who also stressed the importance of getting the traffic lights on Village Road operational.
“There was yet another three-car accident last week at the Shirley Street/Village Road junction. Is the government going to wait for someone to be severely injured or killed before they get the traffic lights working?” he queried.
Village Road businesses are inviting the Ministry of Works to commit to walking the Village Road strip alongside businesses to personally survey the damages and status of the work that remains; meet with the Village Road Business Collective to listen to the concerns; officially communicate the scope of the remaining work and the project plan; officially communicate the project timeline/completion schedule; and assign a business liaison that would provide ongoing updates as needed and facilitate enhanced communication between the Ministry of Works and the business community.
