The health and livelihoods of residents and motorists in east Portland have been severely affected by dust; this is a result of construction work being undertaken for the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project.

One political representative says he’s disappointed with the pace of the work and is of the impression that something is amiss.

He wants answers from the relevant authorities. People’s National Party Vice Chairman for the Portland East/ East Portland constituency, colin bell says while efforts have been made to mitigate the issue, they aren’t consistent. 

To make matters worse, he says the operators of large businesses in Port Antonio such as supermarkets and hardware stores are buckling under the pressure of increased delivery fees. 

This as trailers traveling from Kingston is now taking a long time to deliver large volumes of goods due to the condition of the road. Collin Bell says vehicles are also being damaged as a result.