Resident expresses frustration with APUA and Ministry of Works

A resident in the Sea View Farm community has expressed her distress over what she described as an outright disregard for private property and road safety in her village by two government entities.
Monica Phillip told OBSERVER media that she has exhausted all channels of communication with the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) and the Ministry of Works in an effort to address the problem.
“You have a wide section, then when you come into the village the road narrows; that was about 15 years ago and we told them when they were finished with that they should put a sign to say the layout of the road has changed,” Phillip said. “Nothing was done so we have little accidents … as you enter people think it’s a one-way street … you coming down and people coming up and people house having problems, because vehicles running off the road.
“I called APUA and [the Ministry of Works] together because the pipes run underground and the traffic that is coming in now is not supposed to be coming in here — these big vehicles come through … when you are behind them you can’t even pass because they take up the whole road.”
 She said both agencies have refused to take responsibility for the damaged gutters and property, poor drainage, and speeding on Sea View Farm main road.
Phillip said she has pleaded with workmen, visited the headquarters of both departments and has been directed to management who still have not done anything to rectify the situation.
“We’ve been treated very badly,” the frustrated woman said. “We told them we need some speed bumps because of the speed the people travel through here … and the traffic gets worse and worse. I’m telling you is the worst place you can live.”
One of the government agencies has to use heavy-duty machines to carry out road repairs on the high-traffic roadway between Sir Sydney Walling Highway and All Saints Road.
 
(More in today’s Daily Observer)