Motorists who use the Bogue road in Montego Bay are hoping that Mayor Noel Donaldson’s call for the National Works Agency (NWA) to begin work on that roadway to ease traffic congestion will not fall on deaf ears yet again.

Despite numerous calls for several state agencies over the past two years from a number of bodies, including the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) and the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, nothing tangible has been done to ease the massive bottleneck that has developed along the roadway.

Representatives of the business sector have long argued that Montego Bay has become too congested, and on numerous occasions have called for ways to be found to divert traffic around the city. In 2005, the chamber made a submission to government for the Bogue to Reading main road to be converted to a four-lane roadway.

At the time, the chamber argued that this would alleviate the traffic congestion in that area, particularly during peak hours.

Then at the beginning of the 2006/2007 winter tourist season, Pauline Reid, the current chamber president, chided the Transport and Works Ministry for the undue delays in travelling along the congested Bogue road.

“On any given day, it takes close to two hours to get from Bogue into the heart of the city,” said Reid. “Repeated complaints by the chamber, and a letter to Minister of Tourism (Aloun Assamba) and Works (Minister) Robert Pickersgill has guaranteed no response.”

The JHTA, too, had made representation to the Ministry of Transport and Works, urging it to expand the number of lanes between Reading and Bogue.

According to the association, the tourism sector is losing millions of dollars as a result of the long time it takes to move from one point to another.

JHTA president Horace Peterkin told Transport and Works representatives in Montego Bay last year that the city was unable to take advantage of its booming cruise ship sector because of the congestion there.

“Right now we can’t take advantage of some of the cruise business in terms of tourism attractions because getting across the other side of the town takes quite a long time,” Peterkin said.

So there’s no denying that the Ministry of Transport and Works is fully aware of the plight of motorists and commuters, but has failed to act. In fact, almost two years ago Pickersgill promised to have the matter addressed “soon”.

But what has he done since then to address the problem? How much longer should the hundreds of motorists who traverse the area have to endure the undue delays? And what about the many hours of production time that have been lost due to the long delays in the Bogue area? And who really cares about the many students who turn up late at the various schools in Montego Bay daily?

Let’s hope that Minister Pickersgill will respond speedily to Donaldson’s call.

Minister, failure to deal with the matter will continue to put the traffic department of the St James Police Division under further stress. During peak hours on Mondays to Fridays, as many as 12 traffic cops spend roughly 10 hours in the Bogue area trying to regulate the flow of traffic.

In a parish where more than 210 people have been murdered over the last 14 months, these cops could be better deployed to fight crime. The ball is in your court, minister.