MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I take this opportunity to present a petition once again on behalf of the residents of Cape Ray who live in the District of Burgeo & La Poile. It concerns, of course, the roadway from their community leading to J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park. It is only about a couple of kilometres at best, 1.5 kilometres maybe to two kilometres long. It is gravel road, it has never been paved. They are not asking for pavement. They are asking, basically, that it be made usable. It is in deplorable condition right now. The prayer says:

WHEREAS the Department of Transportation and Works of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is responsible for the funding and maintenance of roads in the community of Cape Ray; and

WHEREAS the roads at Cape Ray are in a deplorable condition, including the road leading from the community to J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park; and

WHEREAS the citizens of Cape Ray demand the roads be upgraded;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to provide sufficient funding to complete the necessary repairs to the roads at Cape Ray.

The principal concern here, as I have indicated to the minister privately – and I actually drew him a diagram as to what the roads were. He said he would be checking into it. As of today when I checked, there has been nothing done with it and nothing has been committed to be done with it. It is amazing that such a small stretch of road with a few loads of fill and a grader, all of which are adjacent to and right in the community, and we cannot get this done.

Apparently the guy on the ground there, vis-à-vis Transportation and Works, who cannot do it and does not have the authority to do it, too frightened to move to do it. Anyway, I brought this to the minister’s attention. He is going to speak - and hopefully we can get something done here. It is very frustrating.