SANTIAGO.- Drivers and inhabitants of Santiago’s south zone again took to their pot-holed streets yesterday, this time chaining themselves to a vehicle to demand the repair of the Matanzas-Palo Amarillo-Baitoa road, the lifeline of more than 10 communities in the province.

Driver union leader Jose Osvaldo Almonte, in chains, criticized the Public Works Ministry for discontinuing the repairs on the route. “The dust raised by the vehicles which pass through here are making the children and the old people ill and damaging our cars of work."

Also in chains, Antonio and Maria Mejía warned that if the authorities don’t resume the work they demand in the next few days, they’ll stage an indefinite strike in the zone, adding to the many protests by the residents in the last two years.

The deteriorated road also affects the communities Estancia Nueva, El Papayo and Laguna Prieta, and other rural localities.

Ten months ago the company Cementos Cibao began the construction of the road’s sidewalks and gutters, whereas Public Works had pledged to pave the highway.

Source: diariolibre.com