Patsy McGlone of the SDLP added that the two families contacted him over the state of roads ahead of the funerals, with one family fearing they would be unable to bring the remains of their father home for the wake.
The gritting of rural roads had been raised at a meeting of Mid Ulster District Council last week, where representatives were told the lack of treatment to roads during bad weather can’t simply be labelled as “the Brits’ fault”.
This newspaper revealed last month that Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins blamed “British austerity” in answers to 132 Assembly responses.
Mid Ulster MLA Mr McGlone said: “There have been two cases in this area in the last couple of weeks.
“The first was in Draperstown. There’s a really steep hill and the family of the deceased were trying to bring the remains home from hospital. They contacted me and said there was no way the hearse was getting up the hill.
“The roads hadn’t been gritted, and as the death of a loved one can be a difficult enough time, I contacted the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) to see if something urgent could be done.
“That was on a Saturday. The body was due to arrive at the family home by 3pm, but within a couple of hours, the road was sorted, and that was by someone who wasn’t supposed to be working that day.
“We can all grumble about the state of the roads, but there are people out there who do go above and beyond when needed most.
“A week later, there was a similar issue, and again I can’t fault the response. They were out two days in a row to ensure the road was treated to allow a wake to happen. These things are important to people, particularly in rural communities.”
A motion had been before Mid Ulster Council calling on DfI roads service to enhance its winter maintenance programme, although its wording was amended to blame “underfunding”, as opposed to “failings”, for the current situation.
UUP councillor Trevor Wilson had appealed to councillors to be realistic when complaining about the lack of gritting provision and pothole issues, saying the Infrastructure Minister could only act within budget provision.
“When I read the motion, it did criticise the Department for Infrastructure, but I didn’t see it as an attack on the minister,” he said.
Snow and freezing conditions made rural roads hazardous, with many not gritted. Picture by Peter Morrison
Ballymena farmer rescues flock of sheep from flood water
“The roads are in poor shape in some places, and quite a lot of potholes are there, but I believe the staff are doing the best they can in the circumstances.
“But I’ll be honest, I get fed up hearing the crying, all the time, about the underfunding that has been received here. It’s about trying to live within the budgets, and the budgets have been increased.
“Yes, the more money we can get the better, but you can only play that out for so long, and it gets played out here almost on a monthly basis.”
He did, though, question the long-term planning of the department.
“The A29, a main road, was not gritted last Thursday, yet they’ve spent quite a sizeable amount of money on putting in a greenway safeway,” Mr Wilson said.
“For anybody who uses that road, I’m not sure they see many people on it. That makes absolutely no sense. And my belief is that there was no or very little consultation on that. That money could be better spent within the Mid Ulster area.”
SDLP councillor Malachy Quinn said he had personal experience of the difficult travelling conditions on the district’s roads.
“Like everybody else, I was disappointed with the winter maintenance programme, especially when I’m travelling to Armagh in the morning,” he said.
“I have to go down Drummurrer Lane, Annaghaboe Road and Annaghmore Road. There’s absolutely no grit whatsoever, except for the ones that residents have gone and put down.
“I do know the staff working for DfI are doing their best. They are constrained quite considerably. I think policy also needs to be looked at, about what’s gritted and when it’s gritted.
“I’m sure every minister could cry that ‘It’s the Brits’ fault’ for not funding them. The minister has got her allocation, and it’s up to her to put it where it needs to go, and if there’s funding failures in the department, it’s up to her to try to fix that.
“Every minister in the Executive has to work on the constraints that they’re at, and there’s no point, because it’s a particular minister, or because a particular minister belongs to a certain party, that you come out and say, ‘Oh, it’s not their fault’.
“They’re the ones in control. They’re the ones that have to take the criticism.”
The DfI has been contacted for comment.