A PUBLICAN has criticised Jersey Electricity and the government for over-running roadworks in St Helier which he says has damaged his business.
Contractors working for Jersey Electricity began digging up Broad Street on 19 April, the day after the Easter long weekend, with signs indicating that the work would take five days.
Tomasz Tura, landlord of the Blue Note Bar, said he was very frustrated by the duration and timing of the project.
‘I understand that there are times when work needs to be carried out, but we are one of the businesses looking to bounce back after two years of restrictions caused by Covid, and instead we have had a month of this,’ he said.
Mr Tura said that few customers had wanted to sit at the bar’s outside tables as a result of the noise, dust and unsightly appearance of Broad Street, which is peppered with barriers, bollards, diggers and other vehicles.
‘We’ve just started to get the tourists back and they should have been able to sit outside and enjoy the good weather during the sunniest part of the day,’ he said.
The fact that the work had over-run meant that the roadworks remained in place over both the May Day and Liberation Day long weekends, he added.
A spokesperson for the government said: ‘This work is being done by Jersey Electricity as part of an electrical replacement service for a property on King Street.
‘The work was permitted with a number of conditions imposed.
‘For instance, any noisy digging activity between 12 and 2pm has been hand-dug to reduce nuisance and no works vehicles have been allowed in the unloading bay in front of the Blue Note, which becomes an al fresco area from 11am.’
The spokesperson added that it was expected the work would be completed by the end of this week.
The JEP has asked the government and Jersey Electricity why the work had taken so much longer than expected.
