Brown Urges “Swift Action” On Blackwatch Pass
[Updated] In response to the concerns expressed of the falling rocks in Blackwatch Pass area, Pembroke Central MP Walton Brown urged motorists and pedestrians to use caution in the area and said he would like for the Ministry of Public Works to take “swift action” to fix the issue.
Mr Brown said, “As the member of Parliament for Pembroke Central, the constituency which includes Blackwatch Pass, I too, am concerned about this issue that is potentially dangerous to the community.
“I urge caution from all motorists and pedestrians in the area when passing through Blackwatch Pass. Additionally, I would like for the Ministry of Public Works to take swift action to fix this problem, in order to ensure optimum safety and to reduce the likelihood of an unfortunate accident.”
Update Sept 10, 7.06pm: In response, the Ministry of Public Works said, “The Ministry continuously monitors the Blackwatch Pass area and carries out routine maintenance and repair work when necessary.
“The local limestone rock is very susceptible to weathering. Even small debris falling from height is a safety concern both from a pedestrian and a vehicle point of view.
“The Ministry will look at the feasibility of using a netting mechanism in certain areas that could help minimise the risk of rock from falling. The net / mesh is specialized and this technique is used extensively in other countries for rock retention.
“The Ministry will look at the most feasible solution of dealing with this issue. Whilst looking for a sound corrective measure, we will continue to patch the tunnel as we have traditionally done so and we encourage the public to exercise caution when in the area.”
.PLP the next time you all open your mouths the only thing I want to hear is a heartfelt and sincere apology for not doing the job properly when you had 14yrs to fix the issues affecting the poor
A politician flapping his lips just to hear himself.
W&E will have this taken care of in short order & the Minister will see to it that the PS for W&E gets off his butt & makes it happen.
The is nothing short order about W&E. If one of your relatives gets injured from falling debris, I’m sure there wouldn’t be no end of your lips flapping in the wind..
They are swiftly building a roundabout at the moment. Almost a year someone said…..probably more like 5-6 months.
@ hmmmmmmm, it’s been closer to a year
Can you say ‘tempest in a teapot’? Maybe it should be ‘the sky is falling’! Blackwatch pass has been there for days with minimal fallout. Sure, all the work done on the roundabout means it might be a good idea to patch the areas of the cliff that need patching, but for MP WB to try to climb on the bandwagon and act like the Town Crier is a bit much. He sounds more like Chicken Little…
WB has called the press to Blackwatch for his monthly sound bite. Seems somewhat desperate!
‘tempest in a teapot’ eh? Interesting. Historically, the last time I have heard of that saying was from the theatre boycott of 1955 with the Govt of the day thinking that the boycotts and gatherings were nothing and they would simply blow over. Look how that turned out. Let’s not have the Govt act ignorantly in this instance. I remember that wall falling at Bda College crushing and killing that poor woman (her name escapes me..sorry) in the early 2000′s. No one foresaw at the time that wall or embankment caving in. I am not an engineer but with all the drilling work nearby for the new roundabout, more storms over the years (we had two back to back last year within a week!), increased traffic with larger and heavier vehicles rumbling by daily (sometimes you can hear them shake your house), buses, plus foliage (years long roots growth can actually crack concrete) etc all need to be considered. We can’t compare this to a ‘quieter’ time of yesteryear. How do we know this structure has not been seriously compromised?
The falling rocks are a warning people. If I were the PS, in addition to ‘patching up’ as a short term measure I would do a full scale structural engineering analysis on Blackwatch Pass and make the findings public. Let the Govt’s new Safety & Health Officer be part of the project.
If it weren’t for the so-called ‘sky is falling’ statements from the Opposition, the OBA would have gotten away with so much at the expense of the people. Let’s not wait for a disaster to happen. But hey maybe the Govt doesn’t have a money tree for such a comprehensive analysis…but it certainly does for an expensive sailboat race. Maybe it can transfer some of the increased departure taxes targeted towards a foreign company’s revenues to fund this very public safety analysis. If Govt can find the funds to do an analysis on dredging the Town Cut for cruise ships and tourism, they can find money for the benefit and safety of the everyday public users of this road. Thinking outside of the box is not a bad thing…
I guess you were not around for the 14 year PLP ‘Dream Period’ when nothing much was done for road maintenance. Now all that time of neglect has caught up with us.
It is not just Blackwatch. The roads in general are a mess. Potholes everywhere. Quite something for a place that does not get freezing temperatures or really heavy vehicles.
You are right about one thing. Where was the PS & Director of W&E during the Dream Period. I guess with a procession of ineffective undereducated W&E Ministers who did not keep the senior civil servants on their toes it was a case of do nothing unless told to get moving.
Why do the ministers have to get involved when we pay ps,engineers architects project managers supervisors
Masons labourers and maintenance crews close to 600 million dollars every year .we need to purge the civil service from the top not the bottom as they are the ones in the trenches actually working.
How does anything you have said have to do with the PLP?
And people are disliking what you said. But what you said made so much sense.
Paid bloggers buh…
This has been going on for a long time. It has in the past been taken care of by patching with block and cement.
I think that time has passed now , to fix the problem it`s time to step the Blackwatch pass back like was done on the southern side of the hill back in the early 90`s its the only way IMOP.
No need for your noise Walton Brown the warning is already out there,guess you didn`t notice when you were moaning about trash removal from the area some months back.
Someone will have to be seriously injured or killed before anyone takes action. That’s just the way politics “works”.
Don’t let any unauthorized persons take any of the rubble away or we’ll be hearing him again.
The Minister urges motorist and pedestrians to “use caution”. Exactly how do you propose that Mr. Minister. Tell me exactly what we should do when walking and or driving through?
The D Day invasion was planned & executed in less time than our Dep of W&E can carry out the simplest of projects.
When oh when will that Dep be privatised?
Maybe that’s what he means when he urges swift action.
Look at all the Mexican/Brazil Pepper trees in the picture.
Not too long ago the invasive vegetation was cleared along the top of the rock cut. The persons who cleared the vegetation , did not apply herbicide ,like Tordon, to the pepper tree stumps ,with the end result that the trees have grown back with a vengeance, no doubt adding to the erosion of the cliff as the roots create vertical fissures in the rock.
The inefficient and slow work we see with our own eyes is not on the actual workers it’s on their managers supervisors and whatever other titles they have .The workers are actually working.