BY ALPHEA SAUNDERS

Observer Senior Staff Reporter

saundersa@jamaicaobserver.com

ST Jago de la Vega was once the largest city in the island, the seat of culture and commercial activity. But today, whilst Spanish Town — as it is now known — still owns some of the finest array of historical buildings and archives, the town has lost much of its splendour.

Attempts have been made to return parts of the town back to some semblance of what it was, as can be seen by the significant restoration and beautification works around Emancipation Square. However, for the most part, the St Catherine capital resembles many of Jamaica’s older capital towns, some parts having received attention, while others remain ramshackle and forlorn vacant buildings reflecting abandoned plans and promises, while many of the townspeople eke out a living on the sidewalks and everywhere else that they can.

Spanish Town’s commercial activity, concentrated mainly near the town centre, rivals that of downtown Kingston, attesting to the mayor’s observation that informal businesses account for the majority of commerce in the town. He says there are just over 200 registered businesses operating in the town, but these account for roughly only 30 per cent of business operators.

“One of the things we have been trying to do is to ensure that these (businesses), although they may not be formally registered, that they pay their fair share of business licence fees,” says Spanish Town mayor, Councillor Norman Scott. “Last year, for St Catherine, we got a few thousands of those persons on that list.”

Scott estimates that more than 70 per cent of the town’s economic activity revolves around the service industry, inclusive of entertainment, transportation, financial services, and trade.

Despite the efforts made over the years to clean up Spanish Town, the town centre still has something of a shoddy appearance, the streets far from pristine, save for some of the older areas, closer to Emancipation Square, and private businesses.

Ann, a vendor sitting next to a large drain with stagnant water on March Pen Road, says she has been at that spot since 2007, and rarely ever witnesses the drain being cleaned. She complained that “vendors mostly clean it. The road get flooded whenever it rain hard, (but) people are at fault, too. A we fi keep wi surroundings clean”.

Mayor Scott admits that there is a significant drainage issue. “Spanish Town is an ancient town, and it has a serious drainage problem. We don’t have the resources to completely reconstruct these drains, so what we have to try to do is increase the number of times we clean the drains… we have (also) asked our disaster preparedness co-ordinator to go into the education institutions to try and instil in the students that proper disposal of garbage will help in a number of ways, such as prevent flooding,” he explains.

He says that, while the authorities maintain a twice-daily waste-collection schedule, there are challenges in some areas where the main contributors to the problem are business operators.

“The trucks come in the morning and in the evenings, and shortly after they are gone, you will see the place filled up again. I have spoken to the National Solid Waste Management Authority, because they have the system, the mechanism, and the law to deal with these people. If you’re operating a business, you must have a contract with some garbage operator to remove your garbage. Failing that, then you are to be given a ticket, because you cannot show where your waste is going,” the mayor insists.

A group of men sitting at a cart on March Pen Road attest that the trucks do collect waste daily, but that in most instances the proprietors, whether formal or informal, swiftly, “put it back… generally all the time rubbish is there”, one man says.

Scott says it has been an uphill task trying to get citizens to help keep the town clean, but that he will push ahead to find innovative means of maintaining cleanliness. “We are challenged by our own people… some time ago, I thought it would be a good idea to get some drums and put around the town, but within a short space of time, all the drums disappeared,” he says.

The mayor says, despite its challenges, Spanish Town is now proudly numbered among the fast-growing dormitory communities across the island, with fairly new developments such as the expanded Angels Estate and Eltham View schemes, as well as Seville Meadows.

“Because of the number of persons coming in to live, there has been demand for other things (such as) more gas stations being built, and more shopping plazas. Shoppers’ Fair has built some shopping plazas… New Era Homes has built a plaza along with Angels. It has created the demand for more educational spaces as well, and as a result you have the Innswood High School, and Eltham High, and expansion at Johnathan Grant High, and Jose Marti as well,” he explains, noting that the Ministry of Education is actively looking at facilities for at least one more high school.

There is also a greater burden on the transportation sector, and as such, the mayor says, the town’s transportation centre has been expanded, to include newly opened sanitary facilities.

“The little side roads that were once discarded are now getting greater usage by motorists due to the increased number of residential housing schemes… we are mindful as the local planning authority, and as a result, with the use of the parochial revenue fund, we have been able to do some patching. We do not have vast amounts of funds to do complete rehabilitation, but it still makes it easier for the motoring traffic,” he says.

Sidewalks, too, have received some of that attention, he adds, but in the busiest sections, from Spanish Town Hospital leading in to March Pen Road and adjoining main corridors, the Jamaica Observer team still observed some pedestrians playing a deadly game of navigating roadways, which are, for the most part, bereft of pedestrian crossings.

A middle-aged man lounging on the steps to one of the buildings in the vicinity of Emancipation Square says that, while he is pleased with efforts to improve the town, there are still too many idle hands available.

“The town look better, by far. We just need more jobs. For the past few years the crime rate is low, and that’s a positive for Spanish Town, (but) there is still police harassment, and they don’t know how to talk to people. People need work,” he laments.

Walking along Wellington Street with its assortment of stalls, and what appeared to be shack-like structures, to French Street, and around to the post office on Adelaide Street, our team found a 66-year-old man who was pleased to express his satisfaction with the service he usually receives at the facility. “Some people bawl, but I don’t have a problem,” he mumbles.

A young woman and an elderly lady also give the postal service the thumbs up, their only complaint being the longer wait on days when social welfare payments are being disbursed.

In the meantime, Scott says the town is now seeing better days, where water supply is concerned. “I would not say that it is perfect. The old system of the reservoir by Job Lane was completely rehabilitated and renovated, and a new system was put in place… Today, we have one of the most modern water systems within the KMR (Kingston Metropolitan Region). There is still a problem as it relates to old galvanised pipes. There is a plan to complete the removal of those pipes and replace them with newer ones. It’s a far better situation now,” he outlines.

At the same time, the mayor says he has asked the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to fix the street lights, which have lost their lustre and do not provide the level of illumination that they should. “They are aware of it. Out of a 10, I could give JPS an eight, while the Water Commission is bordering on five.”

Scott also assured that the Spanish Town Fire Station has its full complement of working units, and from time to time provides assistance to neighbouring towns, such as Linstead and Old Harbour.

Juxtaposed with its old history of charm and culture, Spanish Town is plagued by its more recent, violent history of crime and gangs. While the mayor says things are improving, some people around the town say it is still a problem.

“The record speaks for itself. Last year there was almost a 20 per cent reduction in murders and major crimes. Unfortunately, this year, it has not got off too good. The senior superintendent (of police) in charge of Spanish Town has given the commitment that he expects that by July of this year he would have arrested the situation and he would have surpassed and bettered the figure of last year. The [national security] minister and myself are holding him to that, although it’s not something that he can unilaterally control,” Scott says.

There is now a push to have Spanish Town return to its historic roots, through a renewed focus on tourism. The mayor says a secretariat has been established by the parish council to co-ordinate these activities.

“Very soon, if you want to do a tour of the (Emancipation) square, or a heritage tour of Spanish Town, you will have to register with the secretariat. We have already trained some tour guides, and we are going to be training more. Sometimes for the day, the number of tourist buses that you see pull up in the square, milling around, and nobody is earning. We are going to formalise it. The Tourist Board has been made aware. We are putting things in place, ensuring that we have the proper facilities, and hoping that very soon we will be able to earn from it,” he says.

Spanish Town is situated in the south-east of Jamaica, some 13 miles from Kingston, in the parish of St Catherine. It was declared the capital of Jamaica in 1534 by the then King of Spain and became the seat of the Spanish Government in the island. It remained the country’s capital, even under English rule, up to the 20th century.