Too often public officials forget who they really serve and what their responsibilities are to the society which pays their salaries.

As recently as three weeks ago the organisers of the Milo Western Relays were forgoing ahead with plans to stage the 32nd consecutive staging of the wildly popular meet at the Catherine Hall stadium, which, as far as we know, is almost complete after more than 10 years under construction.

This year’s staging was to have been a return home for the meet that was forced to move away from the region last year due to work at the facility; the organisers, athletes, coaches and spectators were gearing up for the meet here in Montego Bay.

Late last week, however, the news came that the venue would not be available, and try as they might, the organisers are still trying to figure out the reason for the denial of permission.

Based on what we have learnt there is no major reason for the permission being denied by the UDC.

Ray Harvey, the man behind the continued success of the meet that has attracted the cream of the crop of Jamaica’s athletes — from the elite runners to the Prep and Primary school hopefuls — had sought permission for the use of the facility as early as September last year and was assured that the venue would be made available.

Armed with this knowledge, the organisers started working on a makeshift warm-up track among the other myriad preparations to make the meet successful, only to have the carpet dragged out from under their feet.

As an aside, in all their planning and building, it appears those in charge of the facility made one serious error. No space was left for a warm-up track, which is a necessity if the facility is to host a track and field meet.

Now hundreds of athletes will be denied the opportunity to compete on the best and fastest track in the island for the second straight year.

Sometimes those who have delusions of power are so caught up in themselves that they fail to see anything beyond their own noses.

My advice to the UDC is to come down from its ivory tower, as public sector appointments are ultimately temporary and often culminate in some spectacular crashes on the way back to earth.