Taiwan Funded Diamond Village Freedom Road Stopped Without Consultation with Villagers
The community of Diamond Village for the past 20 years has waited to have a complete overhaul of its road network. The Taiwan Government, under the ULP administration, started a $14m road project from Mt. Grenan Gap through the village of Diamond towards Sans Souci Gap. Several consultations were held before the project started, and villagers praised the project that began last year.
Concerns have been raised about the quality of the work on the leg entering from Diamonds Gap, and villagers have made this known. Yesterday, our village watched the departure of a contractor. All his sheds are being broken down and his tools removed. A clear sign that the contractor is moving away from the project. The road is incomplete. The people of the village were not brought to a meeting and informed of what is going to happen or what is happening. It is not the duty of the community to ask the departing contractor what is the story. There is a government in place and there is a donor. If something has gone wrong there is a need to call the road users into a meeting. Instead, every villager is left to come to their own conclusion.
Diamond Village has been known as a stronghold for Labour. Is this political victimization? Is the government of Taiwan aware of what is happening? Has the contract ended? Is a transparent process going to be used to restart the project? What about the entrance to the village, which we will be showcasing in another article, where the road does not look consistent with the higher quality from the Mt. Grenan Gap to Diamonds. Our community has always been known for struggling for what we want. This is not the first, and for sure will not be the last. We are asking the Ministry of Works, all donors involved and whosoever to please show some respect to the people of the community. This level of disrespect cannot be tolerated in 2026. It makes the whole system look bad.
We will keep the nation updated and the community will be mobilised to ensure that we get justice from this situation. Villagers had to raise their own alarm when the playing field was being used by a contractor to mix concrete. It cannot get worse than that.
We demand an answer as to why the village is not being consulted and we are left in the dark.
Denniston Douglas
Community activist