Dear Editor
For several weeks now, I have noticed that the long stretch of road coming from the Harbour View round about to where the Carib Cement factory is located is plunged into darkness at nights.
Given that this stretch of road is used by thousands of visitors to the island daily, coming from the Norman Manley Airport into Kingston, I am struggling to understand why this roadway in particular has been neglected. To be clear, there are street lights, but none of them are currently working. To make matters worse, it is a bumpy ride coming in, as there are several potholes along that stretch. While I have gotten used to it, the usual sounds coming from the cement factory as its machines are put into action is very distracting and might frighten someone who is visiting the island for the first time. We can’t take it for granted that they will know that the clamoring, bellowing and whistling sounds is as a result of a cement factory being in close vicinity to the road they are travelling on. I almost got a heart attack on Sunday night while driving by, as I heard this loud sound, seemingly from out of nowhere. I realised after, that it was the machines from the factory. So it was a dark, bumpy and anxious ride to my destination.
For a country that has a high rate of road fatalities, it should be mandatory that street lights are fixed in the shortest possible times, especially along busy thoroughfares. As I indicated, it has been months now, since these street lights have been out of operation. The Norman Manley Airport is an International Airport and is the gateway to the nation’s capital, Kingston. It can’t be that visitors are plunged into darkness on their journey to the capital city. Mind you, Jamaica has become a dark place, with all the crime, poverty and high levels of carnality, but at least spare our visitors.
I have seen several references that the main contribution of the outgoing mayor, Delroy Williams was that he encouraged the painting of murals across Kingston. I hope the new mayor will leave a more lasting and impactful legacy. If he can improve the issue of malfunctioning streetlights, then he would definitely be on the right track in cementing his legacy. Proper functioning street lights saves lives. So when a mayor prioritizes this, I take it as an indication that he cares about people’s lives.
I am,
Nicole
