Holes that become craters
Dear Editor,
It is like an obstacle course was placed smack in the middle of the old capital Spanish Town. It has been this way for some months now and is getting increasingly difficult to manoeuvre.
The course consists of huge, feet-deep potholes from Young Street around to the main thoroughfare on Burke Road. The potholes bring back memories of crab bush hunting, with multiple holes bunched together. The situation is made worse when it rains or if there is a leaking pipe on the road. The water-filled potholes are not for the faint or weak-hearted, especially those with small units.
These pothole-riddled roads have become the elephant in the room.
Poor Stephen Shaw, communications manager at the National Works Agency, is carrying the weight of the asphalt on his shoulders, but whoever is responsible should answer. Why do we have to behave like animals in order for justice to prevail in Jamaica? Why do we have to sacrifice life and limbs to have our basic human rights and entitlement as citizens addressed?
This leads me to the management of our local resources. Our leaders often wait until there is a complete deterioration, outcry, and demonstration for a promise to be forthcoming. Our leaders forget the old proverb that says, “A stitch in time saves nine.”
We would have saved a great deal of the country’s finances if we attended to small issues before they become sores in our budget. Potholes, as small as they are, not only affects drivers’ pockets, causing them to buy parts, but they help lift our energy bill up to God and leave us on our knees begging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance.
We can take a page out of the book of the managers of the toll road. They don’t allow emerging holes to become swimming pools, they nip it in the bud.
Hezekan Bolton
h_e_z_e@hotmail.com