BROWN’S TOWN, St Ann — Public passenger transport operators who use the covered taxi park in Brown’s Town are not amused at its rundown state.

“The park need fi fix long time,” said Everol Smith, who plies the Brown’s Town to Discovery Bay route.

Elaborating on the issues bedevilling the facility that once was a market, Smith told the Jamaica Observer, “The building leak like a river; it is about to collapse. It waan pull down and fix right now. If rain fall, yuh can barely shelter under it and where the taxis park in it is a pond.”

Another taxi driver, Javon Gayle, lamented the unpleasant odour that lingers at the park, partly due, he said, to infrequent collection of garbage and the fact that the facility has become a hangout spot for homeless and mentally challenged people.

“When the rubbish bin is full it takes a while for the rubbish truck to come and empty the rubbish. You also have a lot of homeless men come in the park with garbage and cardboard and things like that, and it really smell bad. It nuh pleasant. When it comes to health, it’s not okay to work in this condition,” Gayle said.

The state of the park has drawn concern from St Ann North Western Member of Parliament Krystal Lee.

“It is in dire need of repair,” declared the parliamentarian, who, like the taxi drivers, is looking forward to rehabilitation work after Local Government and Rural Development Minister Desmond McKenzie toured the rundown taxi park last month and said he has instructed his technical team to assess the facility. He added that funding for an upgrade will be sought in the upcoming financial year.

Meanwhile, some commuters joined taxi drivers in pointing to holes in the park’s zinc roof, as well as potholes with stagnant water in the driveway.

According to Gayle, the taxi drivers had suggested using the $100 fee they are being charged daily to carry out repairs at the park, but that proposal was shot down.

Now, most of the operators have refused to pay due to the deplorable condition of the park, said Roland Brooks, a taxi driver.

“I think the St Ann Municipal Corporation is making a little bit of money in the park now because a lot of the taxi operators refuse to pay. And you cannot beat them because the park is in a terrible state,” Brooks said.

“I would feel very happy if the local government people step in and fix the Brown’s Town taxi park. If they do that, they would get the money they are charging,” he added.