MONTEGO BAY, St James — Claiming that many of their children have been mowed down by speeding motor cars while using the sidewalks of the Retirement main road in St James, residents of Meadowsvale are calling for the Government’s assistance in “saving their youths”.

“Dem a gwaan too bad pon the road. Children go and come pon the road and we want justice for our kids. The driver dem must gwaan better. We have to go to work, and we have children going and coming from school. We want justice, and a that mek me out here today because the driver dem pon the road a gwaan bad,” said Fiona Ezell.

The latest child from the community to be hit by a speeding motor car is 11-year-old Jason Bryan.

Bryan, a grade five student at Barracks Road Primary School, was reportedly walking from a community shop when he was mowed down by a car heading in the direction of Montego Bay.

The young boy was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) by a passerby. He later succumbed to the injuries sustained while undergoing treatment on Monday afternoon.

Obviously troubled by the untimely death of young Bryan, affectionately called MJ, placard-bearing residents blocked the Retirement main road early Tuesday morning, demanding action not only from Government officials but also pleading for motorists to spare their young children.

Mother of the dead child, Sandra McIntosh-Bryan was inconsolable when the Jamaica Observer visited her community on Tuesday morning. Her face etched with grief, McIntosh-Bryan stated that she was the one who had sent the young boy to buy items for dinner.

“Mi send him a shop inna the lane and it look like him never get what I sent him for, so him come out to the shop across the road. A right there suh mi sit down in the lane when somebody bawl out ‘Sandra, Sandra yuh pickney just get lick down.’ Mi run come out cause mi couldn’t believe say MJ gone lef me,” the grieving mother told the Observer.

An alleged eyewitness told the Observer that the young boy had no chance of living, based on the speed at which the motor car hit him on Sunday afternoon.

“Him come out of the shop and two cars a blaze come down the road. By the time him come out and ready fi walk go home dem just lick him and a right down there suh him drop,” said the resident, who requested anonymity, while pointing to a blood-stained spot on the road which told the tale of the tragic incident.

“The youth drop right here suh, unresponsive. When we tek him up him face swell big and his head was split open,” the resident added.

With motorists travelling on the paved road wreaking havoc in Meadowsvale, the resident is pleading that they reduce their speed and “give the children a chance to grow up”.

“Dem a come down the road too fast and dem a speed come up same way.

“You see that just now? Perfect example of what I’m talking about…a fi dem style that. With all the obstacles [trees and household items] in the road, dem still a speed,” the resident said to our news team, pointing to a motor car as it raced down the main road.

“Mi nuh see where this is a highway, so that is not necessary. This is a community road,” the man added.

Kedesha Gordon believes that the Government representatives should play a more active role in ensuring the safety of other community children.

“From mi live here seven years now speeding has been a problem. From the drivers reach the Retirement dump corner dem start overtaking other vehicles. One time three cars lick up on this road and all of them did a go inna the same direction,” Gordon explained.

“We have a whole heap of pickney in the community and the drivers a lick dem down one by one. We a ask fi something put inna the road…anything at all just to slow down the vehicles, and we a beg wah sign weh say ‘Slow Down’ or ‘Children Crossing’,” she suggested.

Councillor Michael Troupe (People’s National Party, Granville Division) told the Observer that he will be relaying the residents’ plight at the next sitting of the St James Municipal Corporation (SJMC) on Thursday.

“The community members are demanding that the Government do things to eliminate the constant speeding. They are asking for speed bumps to slow the traffic down so I am going to speak to the superintendent for road and works. He will have to come look and tell me what can be done,” said Troupe.

“I sympathise with the family. There is nothing we can do to bring back the child [but] what we can do as local government representatives is see how we prevent other children from being victims of this.”