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Organiser of the march, Al Prince, leads the small group of protesters
(SNO) — A small group of residents of Vigé, Vieux-Fort took to the streets on Sunday, October 7, 2018 to protest bad road conditions in their community.
The protesters carried placard-bearing messages such as “No road, no vote,” and “Fix the roads. It’s terrible.” However, the protest occurred while repairs were being done to the roads which are riddled with large potholes. The situation has become so dire, that prior to the works, residents had to repair sections of the roads using their own resources.
When St. Lucia News Online visited the community on Sunday, a crew from the Ministry of Infrastructure was busy at work in the area. Reports are that repairs commenced several days ago after residents indicated through the media that they would take protest action in order to force government to relieve them of their plight which they have endured for decades.
Organizer of the march, Al Prince, said he believes work on the roads began recently to discourage residents from protesting. And after St. Lucia News Online interviewed a number of residents, it was quite clear that was the reason many did not take part in the march.
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Al Prince
“They are fixing the road now, so let’s wait and see what will happen before we march,” a resident, who did not take part in the march, told St. Lucia News Online.
Prince noted that residents expected a higher quality work to be carried out on the roads, but they are thankful for the temporary relief.
“I am a bit satisfied with the work that is taking place on the roads now… It’s not what we expected but it’s a help,” Prince said.“The roads are in a terrible state. It needs to be properly repaired, so we are pleading to the government to assist us.”
Prince said the Vigé/Cacao roads are very important to everyone because whenever there is an accident along the Cannels road, motorists use them. He said during the Christmas Eve trough when the Cannels bridge was completely destroyed, everyone used the Vigé/Cacao roads to get to their destinations.
According to Prince, he was told by a staff in the Ministry of Infrastructure that under the former administration funds were made available to repair the roads in the community but no one knows what has happened to the funds.
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Work being carried out on the road.
Ann Francis, another resident, said: “It appears that the government does not care about us. They are fixing roads everywhere except in Vigé.”
David Fontenelle said due to the condition of the roads, persons from other communities always ask them if they have a district representative.
“They (authorities) are treating us like animals. For many years the roads in the community have not been repaired,” Fontenelle said.
Residents said what further infuriates them is the fact that Vieux-Fort North has supported the St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP), therefore it should have never allowed the roads to get to such a state.
Several weeks ago, protest action by residents of another community in Vieux-Fort North had forced the government to do some repairs to the roads there. The residents protested by blocking the roads with boulders and trees.
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