Collie Smith Drive gets SPARK facelift

Collie Smith Drive in Trench Town, St Andrew, is getting a full makeover. The work is being done under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to the Road Network (SPARK) programme, which is a $45 billion initiative of the Government.

The major facelift is happening right in the constituency of St Andrew South, which is a People's National Party (PNP) garrison represented by Opposition Leader Mark Golding.

Heavy machinery has been put to work under the Government's SPARK programme, clawing up the battered asphalt that locals have complained about for years.

"I'm a resident of this community and for the past 30-plus years, this road has not been properly resurfaced," said Peter Plummer, retired Jamaica Defence Force works overseer and justice of the peace, who has been brought in to help ensure it's done right.

"A little work has been done, patching here and there at various sections, but the road surface itself from the complex down to Spanish Town Road has been deteriorating over time," he added.

The political optics are hard to ignore -- the Government rolling out a major upgrade in one of the safest seats for the PNP, and the home turf of its leader. For residents, though, the irony matters less than the smooth ride ahead.

"One less bad road inna Jamaica is a good thing. This route, a nuff people use it, so it good fi everybody," one man told THE WEEKEND STAR. Another pointed out, "The youths in the community also get benefit as they get contracted for days work."

According to Plummer, the road is a key link for drivers and pedestrians across the Corporate Area and beyond.

"It's a route that gives access to go to the hospital, Cross Roads, Half-Way Tree, Maxfield Avenue and Portmore. It connects to almost all communities in Kingston. For those residents who are here that need to go to the hospital or to the stadium or wherever, it's in no time. The road is being fixed now, it also allows them less time to go wherever," he said.

Plummer credited Golding, for pushing to get the repairs started.

"I applaud the member of parliament, Mr Mark Golding, for what he's done to initiate and continue to press on so that this work can start."

"We appreciate it, and not only us in the community appreciate it, but those people who live in other adjoining communities or coming through from far," Plummer said.