Dear Editor,

The following is an open letter to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Minister of Transportation Robert Montague and Mayor of Kingston Delroy Williams:

I recently saw The Port Authority of Jamaica share a photograph of an old ferry boat with the caption “Who would like to see this service return?”

This made me wonder how has the Government of Jamaica made no mention of a reintroduction of this necessary service.

The Government, specifically Mike Henry and Robert Montague, seem to be more obsessed with the idea of bringing back rail service to the entire island — something which I agree is a necessary service and I would love to see it happen. However, we must creep before we can walk.

Ferry service is something which will take far less investment than reintroduction of the rail service.

I propose the following routes:

– Portmore to downtown Kingston

– Portmore to Norman Manley International Airport

– Downtown Kingston to Norman Manley International Airport

– Downtown Kingston to Port Royal

Imagine if we had park-and-ride service where ferry users paid to leave their vehicles in the secured ferry terminal parking lot in Portmore and went to work in downtown Kingston stress-free. This would not only save commuters gas and time, but it would help in the revitalisation of downtown Kingston. This is not just a necessary service for commuters, this also doubles as an attraction for tourists. It will also create jobs, and with the proposed development of Port Royal as a cruise ship destination, this will sync perfectly.

I urge our ‘bigger heads’ to consider this.

Markus Brown

m.b2k9@yahoo.com