$8-m upgrade! - Conditions at Falmouth transport centre to improve

Pigs, goats and dogs roam the park, says Meadows

BY MARK CUMMINGS Editor-at- Large, Western Bureau cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, December 01, 2011

FALMOUTH, Trelawny - CHAIRMAN of the Trelawny Parish Council, Mayor Colin Gager says some $8 million will be spent over the next few months to improve the existing conditions at the Falmouth transport centre.

"The designs have been completed as well as the necessary paperwork, so we expect that within another month the work will start," Gager told the Observer West yesterday.

The disclosure comes two weeks after scores of commuters and transport operators who use the facility protested against its deplorable condition.

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caretaker for North Trelawny Dennis Meadows, who was among the protesters who converged on the centre last month, told the Observer West yesterday that the facility is in an unacceptable state.

"It is untenable and disgraceful and needs urgent attention as it is proving to be a gross inconvenience to commuters and operators alike," the JLP caretaker stressed.

He cited the absence of a perimeter fencing; the lack of proper sanitary conveniences; dust nuisance and the absence of vending stalls, as some of the pressing issues that need to be addressed.

"Because there is no perimeter fencing pigs, goats and dogs roam the park and so the commuters and transport operators have to contend with the urine and faeces deposited there by animals," he argued.

The JLP caretaker also harshly criticised the parish council for installation of portable toilets at the facility, pointing out that users of the centre have refused to use them during the days.

"These portable toilets are placed in the open and so during the days inside of them are very hot and because of this users of the facility have to be stooping behind cars to urinate and defecate because they can't go in them due to the heat," he explained.

The facility, which is also without lighting, was built on Tharpe Street in March to reduce traffic congestion in the town following the pedestrianisation of sections of the north coast town to facilitate cruise passengers.

The absence of a transportation centre in the area was widely believed to have contributed significantly to the traffic snarls in the town.

Mayor Gager yesterday acknowledged that there were challenges at the transport centre but he emphasised that steps are being taken to ensure comfort for its users.

"Apart from constructing the sanitary facilities we are going to install lights, vending stalls and a car park," he explained.

He added that arrangements are now being made for the stray animals that roam the park to be impounded.

At the same time, he appealed to transport operators and commuters using the centre to be patient with the council, as "every effort" is being made to provide a first-class centre.

And users of the facility have welcomed the announcement for the planned upgrading of the centre.

"We are really looking for the upgrading works to begin because the situation at the centre is not ideal," said taxi operator Michael Williams.

Meanwhile, Gager said construction of a multimillion-municipal market and transport centre should begin on lands along Market Street in the town early next year.

The drawings, he said, are ready, adding that funding for the project has already been identified.

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$8-m upgrade! - Conditions at Falmouth transport centre to improve