LINSTEAD, St Catherine – Angry residents of Bog Walk and Linstead, St Catherine have signalled they will resist a plan to convert the critical transport corridor through the Bog Walk Gorge into one-way traffic during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.

The residents from communities in the narrow, winding gorge vociferously drowned out officials trying to assure them that the traffic plan was important to facilitate the movement of patrons, including hundreds of visitors expected to flock into the island for cricket’s biggest tournament, which starts on March 11 with the opening ceremony in Trelawny.

Their anger erupted at a meeting in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church Hall in Linstead, after Corporal Allan Foster informed them of the National Works Agency (NWA) proposal that as of Tuesday, March 13, the main road through the Gorge would be converted into a one-way system to facilitate cricket-bound traffic coming from the North Coast into Spanish Town.

Foster, head of the Linstead traffic department, was deputising for North St Catherine police chief, Superintendent Harry Daley at the meeting organised by the Social Development Commission (SDC).

“Between 5:00 am and 9:00 am only traffic going easterly in the direction of Spanish Town will be allowed to use the Gorge road. Traffic coming westerly out of Kingston and Spanish Town towards Bog Walk will be routed through the alternative routes at Barry or Sligoville,” Foster told the noisy residents, who voiced serious objections to the proposal.

The residents argued that during that four-hour period, their children would normally be heading for school and using the alternative routes, which were longer, would cause them to be late, for which they would be punished.

Many of the students had to travel from Kingston to places like Ewarton, Linstead and Bog Walk among others and would be severely affected.

Moreover, alternative routes would be more costly as it would mean higher taxi fares, the residents complained, adding that it was more time-consuming and inconvenient.

“This arrangement is damn foolishness. We object to such a proposal,” shouted Ralph Edwards, who argued that “poor people must tek lick all the while; nothing can’t go so”.

The over 75 residents became boisterous and demanded a change of plan, as some shouted that if the proposal was not withdrawn, “serious action” was going to be taken.

“We a go show dem a who rule. Dem can’t do everything fe World Cup Cricket and forget sey we exist. We live here you know,” another angry resident shouted.

Some parents demanded explanation letters from the Ministry of Education to be presented to school principals to protect their children’s attendance records.

Councillor Dr Raymoth Notice (JLP – Bog Walk Division) called on the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the Cricket World Cup to reconsider the arrangement as hundreds of students would be inconvenienced.

Notice declared that if the Bog Walk Gorge corridor was properly regulated to control the flow of traffic there would be no need for a one-way system.

“If they should regulate the traffic flow at the signal light at the Flat Bridge and place police strategically along the gorge, whatever back-up is encountered during the peak hour morning traffic can be cleared by proper regulation,” said Notice.

“It is absolute nonsense, because all the schools on the northern and southern end of the gorge will be greatly affected,” he added.

Officials tried desperately to calm the angry residents by explaining that the system would only be operational for the seven days when matches will be played at Sabina Park in Kingston.