In declaring the Lincoln Avenue Road open, Minister of Local Government & Community Development, the Honourable Noel Arscott told citizens that work done was made possible by citizens honouring their property tax obligations.

 The Lincoln Avenue Road in May Pen, Clarendon was opened on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 with a small group of residents gathered to witness the occasion.   The 500m of roadway which has been in disrepair for several years was rehabilitated by the Clarendon Parish Council at a cost of $2m. Chairman of the Clarendon Parish Council Mayor Scean Barnswell,  said that the repairs came about as a result of a new approach being taken by the Council in which $2m is allocated for repairs to a road in each division and selection of the road way is done by way of a priority listing.

In pointing out the number of roadways that have been repaired by the council over the past year and a half Mayor Barsnwell gave the assurance that Ministry allocations to the Council were being well spent. “Let me say to the Minister and his team, that with the monies sent to the parish from the PRF, (Parochial Revenue Fund) we ensure that the people of the parish has seen results; value for money”, he said.

In his response Minister Arscott congratulated the Council on a job well done and told the gathering of the Ministry’s intention to address infrastructural issues islandwide, despite budgetary limitations. He pointed out that a vast majority of the country’s roadways are Parish Council roads nevertheless he said, “We are trying to use creative means to see how best we can upgrade the roads for our citizens”.

 Minister Arscott was also in St. Thomas on August 22, 2013, where he toured a number of roadways and praised the work that was done on a bridge in Hamstead.