The ‘road’ to local government

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Gleaner’s Letter of the Day on Wednesday, February 28, titled ‘Root causes of voter apathy’, by Keith Campbell is an excellent one. I quote a few words from it here: “…some of these representatives and councillors only show up to start minimal works in their constituencies when an election is a mere few weeks away”. I have to agree 100 per cent with this statement, especially when trying to navigate 19 Mile Road in Coopers Hill, St Andrew.

For over nine years, this road, where cars somehow still manage to drive, has been eroding and getting narrower and rough with potholes and fallen rocks, with absolutely nothing done by authorities to repair it in any way. People live up here, in houses, with cars and fences and walls and land, which, of course, have all depreciated in value due to the continued neglect and worsening condition of the road. Who would want to buy a house up here, and who could sell their own at its correct value when it is situated on such a total disaster of a road?

Hurried work taking place

The people who live on this road have made their best efforts, out of their own pockets, to ‘patch’ this road from time to time so that they can continue to actually drive on it, albeit with extreme caution.

Three weeks ago, to my utter astonishment (but maybe not so much!), suddenly there was heavy machinery widening the road and piles of marl, with obvious, hurried work taking place! There were rumours of asphalt to be laid! Progress was being made, and as the days passed, the marl was laid and rolled, and the road looked wonderful and ready for the asphalt. Guess what?

The work came to a dead halt just a few days before the local government elections. Nothing further happened. And then, on the day of the elections, down came the rain, hard and steady, and the marl was dug out by the rushing water, and a lot of it ended up on 12 Mile Road further down. Now, 19 Mile Road is once more a dangerous and difficult road to drive on, full of trenches and holes and rocks because of the running off of the marl that had been laid.

So, yes, why should I have voted? I have absolutely no confidence in anything any of them are saying or promising, because they are just people trying to improve their own lives like everyone else, in whatever way they can. Obviously, and unfortunately, it makes no difference to us ‘ordinary’, innocent, hard-working, suffering people who wins or loses any election. But hope springs eternal, doesn’t it?

SADAN TAYAD

Red Hills PO