Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill today said that residents within communities are not allowed to stop contractors from working within their communities when carrying out works on behalf of the Ministry of Public Works.

Making a statement on ongoing works and projects being conducted by his Ministry, Mr. Edghill said while contractors may inform residents of the works to be done, the residents simply cannot block the work of the contractors.

“We will not allow residents confronting contractors and dictating to them that they can’t work, it is not going to be allowed, the contractors that have been engaged by the Ministry of Public Works, they are acting for and on behalf of the Ministry. So, basically, if you stop a contractor, you are stopping me and you are stopping the Ministry but we are going to get in there and get the work done,” the Minister said.

Mr. Edghill said while the Ministry will not be “strong arming” residents, it is important for residents to understand the works being executed.  

He admitted that in many cases, persons are not opposed to the actual work being done, but are opposed to projects that could impact the reserves outside their homes.

‘There are drains that you clean, but the water is not moving….So, there are times when we have to break bridges so we can get the water flow. So, we have to be able to engage and ease the confrontation,” the Minister said.

He said as his Ministry embarks on a beautification exercise across the city, it is still concerned about the way billboards and sign boards are being placed in the public spaces.

“People should only erect billboards if they have permission from the Ministry, what happens is that the bigger guys would write and get permission for a billboard for a particular event lasting a particular time but when that even is done, they are not taking down that billboard they want to sell that space to other people and behave as if they owned that session and the smaller guys just go and nail things all over and the city is looking untidy with all these things,” Mr. Edghill said.

The Minister said his Ministry will continue to undertake rehabilitation work on several streets across the city and will continue its push to get rid of derelict vehicles from the roadways.

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