I live in the community of Bull Bay where a new two-lane, high-speed road with a concrete barrier was created to splinter our community and allow for the speedy passage of aggregate and tourists going between new hotel districts in St Thomas from Kingston. I haven’t heard or seen any proposed benefit to the citizens of Bull Bay.

Bull Bay is a linear community that stretches along the southern coastline of Jamaica for approximately four miles. It is a narrow strip of land between the St Andrew foothills and shoreline, with portions used for fishing and recreational beaches at Cable Hut, Brooks Pen, Wicky Wacky, and Copacabana. Some homes built in the 1960s along this stretch and their owners abandoned them, they have been captured, and the rest have become informal communities.

While I asked the powers that be, by way of letters to the editor, about plans for the Bull Bay area that would result from the highway cutting through the community, none were forthcoming from any relevant government entity. I wondered if considerations were made for zoning of specific areas to create residential, commercial, manufacturing, parks, government entity spaces, etc.

The Bull Bay Post Office was relocated to Windward Road, 10 miles away in Kingston, and the police station built in 1896 was demolished. This police station was made of cut limestone, and no attempt was made to save any history associated with it. Additionally, what appears to be happening now is a proliferation of buildings and walls along the roadway, with ad-hoc access to the new roadway, and businesses built in what must be the right of way for the road. There is no soft shoulder on this road for any emergency.

To date, the new location of the police station is unknown to most residents, and all who depend on the post office have to pay for transportation to travel to the post office to receive their National Insurance Scheme payments and mail or receive letters.

It is clear that decisions are being made by someone or something to rearrange the community without the input of the residents. All this points to the lack of a local government that actually works with Jamaicans for Jamaicansas while the country prepares to vote for parish councillors on Monday, February 26.

We have failed to advise those who present themselves as representatives that they are in place to represent our interests, not the interests of their respective parties. However, this concept is lost on a population that reads infrequently and is largely ignorant of the functions of government and how it operates.

Local government is about empowerment, and it recognises citizens and their rights to the beauty and benefit of this country by way of our collective and individual efforts.

We must take voting seriously. And although this local government election is only about the two main political party colours, it is a huge opportunity for us to let the political class know that we are here.

We have a voice, and on February 26 it will be a vote; let us use it wisely. Jamaica is not a banana republic, it does not belong to the People’s National Party or Jamaica Labour Party. It is our country, let us treat it as such.

We must be responsible citizens, voting is the first step, and we must be prepared to do the hard work that follows.

hmdenergy@gmail.com