Dear Editor,

My road trip from Buff Bay to Papine turned out not only to be a relaxing sojourn through the hills of Portland and St Andrew, but also an experience in political responsibility.

My friends and I decided that we would travel from Ocho Rios to Buff Bay, then turn up through the hills on our way to Kingston.

Our trip was made on Saturday, June 22, 2019. I last travelled this route over 20 years ago when I was in the Jamaica Defence Force. The route is a narrow, winding road with the constant presence of rivers and streams. The mountains, the greenery, and the several birds of all types flying around was a cocktail of pleasantness and relaxation. However, what was impressive was the quality of the road surface. The road from Buff Bay all the way to the border with St Andrew seems recently paved. There are no potholes and the verges are all neatly trimmed.

We saw no idlers on the side of the road. Instead, we saw farmers going about their business either with produce on their heads or with farming tools going to or from their farms. There were electricity lines all along the way as well as telephone and/or cable lines.

It was not surprising to experience a lack of Internet service in some areas as we were travelling through very mountainous and rugged areas.

The Member of Parliament for these communities in western Portland is Daryl Vaz. He should be commended and congratulated for ensuring that the roads in these rugged communities are well kept. Except for the stretch of the road between Section district and Holywell, the roads are quite good all the way to Papine.

I believe the route from Newcastle down to Papine is in the constituency of Juliet Holness. As a new Member of Parliament she has done an excellent job widening the roads and paving them.

On our way up from Buff Bay, we stopped at Spring Hill at a nice country shop and bar owned by a “Mr Clarke”. He shared his cow skin soup, laced with red peas, peanut and chunks of beef. It was an excellent and refreshing soup in the cool hills of Portland. This area of our country and similar areas are far removed from the urban settings where there is robbery, rape, murder, and just mayhem.

The trip was worth it and we have already planned another one.

The residents of these communities, Tranquillity, Mullet Hall, Silver Hill, Green Hill and Section, are experiencing the type of political representation that not all Jamaican citizens receive.

Daryl Vaz is representing them well. He is seeing to their basic needs and he should be commended.

Linton P Gordon

Attorney-at-law

lpgordon@cwjamaica.com