Samuda orders review of NWC worksites across Corporate Area amid traffic complaints

Following a surge of public complaints regarding severe traffic disruptions, Water Minister Matthew Samuda has directed the National Water Commission (NWC) to conduct an immediate review of all active construction and emergency repair sites across the Corporate Area.

The complaints have intensified with schools reopening today following the two-month summer break.

The mandate specifically targets active projects within Kingston and St Andrew, where ongoing utility works have heavily impacted daily commuters.

Samuda has instructed the NWC to accelerate the speed at which torn-up roadways are properly repaired and resurfaced.

He also wants the utility company to improve the deployment of clear signage and protective barricades around open work zones, and enhance coordination to ensure smoother vehicular flow around disrupted corridors.

The directive comes as a direct response to widespread public frustration over traffic snarls and prolonged delays caused by utility excavations throughout the capital.

In a release on Monday, the Minister noted that he has expressed to NWC management his concern about the pace of reinstatement in some areas, as well as the adequacy of signage and traffic management at some work sites.

Samuda described the frustration being experienced by motorists and residents as understandable.

“We are at the start of the new school year, traffic volumes have increased significantly, and people need to get their children to school and themselves to work safely and on time. Where roadways are excavated, motorists are entitled to expect proper signage, appropriate traffic management and the fastest possible reinstatement of the road,” Samuda said.

Samuda noted that, as drought conditions continue, the NWC has been working to bring additional water sources, including wells, into the Corporate Area network, which includes work at the Molynes Road and East Kings Road wells to bring these long-rested sources into operation.

“As additional sources are introduced and water is moved through different sections of the network, there are changes in pressure. Unfortunately, in sections where we have older and more fragile pipelines, these pressure changes can expose weaknesses in the network and result in breaks. That explains some of what residents have been seeing, but it does not lessen the inconvenience when a road has to be excavated or when a community loses its water supply. Our responsibility is therefore twofold: get additional water into the system during this drought, while responding to breaks and restoring affected roads as quickly and safely as possible,” said Samuda.

The Water Minister also reiterated the decision to move planned works along the Old Hope Road, Munroe Road and Wellington Drive corridor principally to night-time work, with intensive work on Sundays and temporary reinstatement of excavated sections to minimise the impact on weekday traffic.

“We know that infrastructure work of this scale will cause some disruption. But ‘necessary work’ cannot become an excuse for unnecessary inconvenience. We have to modernise an ageing water network and build the resilience Kingston and St Andrew urgently need. But we must do that while respecting the daily lives of the people we serve,” argued the Minister.

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