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The National Works Agency (NWA) has again been rapped for lacking in its oversight of the restoration of roads after they are dug up to facilitate infrastructure works carried out by the National Water Commission (NWC).Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry slapped the agency at a parliamentary committee discussion Tuesday on extensive road excavations on Charlemont Drive in Hope Pastures to accommodate multiple multi-storey developments in the traditionally single-family home area. The road was patched after sustained complaints from residents and representative associations.Harrison Henry argued that protocols and practice must be established for the restoration of roads after they are cut to facilitate developments."We [should] do it in a manner that when roads are going to be cut, that communities are made aware, that communities understand, and that those who wish to take advantage of the new level of sewerage being allowed to the community, that they be given that opportunity," she told the EG Hunter-led NWA team, which appeared before the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee.Hunter agreed that there should be a structured programme for the reinstatement of roads, regardless of whether oversight responsibility is with his agency or the municipal corporations, but noted that the NWA has responsibility for roads within its schedule, and is not at liberty to take on the mandate of other agencies."We are, after all, creatures of decisions and policy," he said.He pointed out that the law provides for the NWA to have oversight of main roads, but the agency does not have a duty to attend to those roads unless funds are provided."The last time I looked at the schedule I didn't see it (Charlemont Drive)," Hunter told the committee.Committee member and Manchester North Western Member of Parliament Mikael Phillips insisted that this was a wider issue, which the NWC also needs to answer, as many parish council roads in the Kingston Metropolitan Area are being dug up to facilitate development. He stressed that the NWA - as the agency that gives approval for road works, and, in some cases, contracts - should be responsible for oversight.The head of the NWA pointed out also that roads are not excavated arbitrarily and the extensiveness of those activities are usually linked to the stability of the underlying NWC network."The notion that these roads have been fixed and [then] dug up afterwards was a thing of the past. Excavating the road arises because there is a leak, or somebody wants a service, and they (NWC) provide that service. Most of the time the excavation that arises after a road has been worked on came about simply because the pipes have been lying there in sweet repose for 60 years and here comes a road construction activity with heavy equipment that stresses the pipes and the leaks manifest," he explained, pointing out that while some leaks are immediately evident, others are not.He said efforts are now being made to have water and sewage infrastructure works coincide with road projects, to address those challenges."It doesn't address the existing neighbourhoods and so on, and that has to be done. When works are being done in these neighbourhoods, there has to be a good protocol and understanding," Hunter said.He noted that the NWA does have an arrangement with the NWC to fix road cuts which are done in the normal course of the utility company's operations.During a 2015 discussion at the committee looking at millions of dollars paid to the NWA for repairs to roads that the NWC had dug up to fix pipelines, the commission's head, Mark Barnett, had said the arrangement with the NWA had improved, but it did not make financial sense to repair small excavations individually. He also said small cuts accounted for the majority of the NWC's road cuts."The NWC's excavations in the normal course of repairs are not large cuts, and it means that while the NWA does not have its own asphalt facility it has to rely on those that produce the material. It therefore means that unless you have a certain cumulative area ... it's just not economical," Barnett said.The works agency is responsible for 5,000 kilometres of main roads, while municipal corporations have oversight for approximately 16,000 kilometres, the agriculture ministry 1,500, kilometres. There are 4,000 kilometres of roads in developments and housing schemes that do not fall under any jurisdiction.