No place to walk - Jonathan Grant High principal upset about pedestrian hazard

Sheldon Williams, Gleaner Writer

With the 2013/14 academic year set to begin tomorrow Dr O'Neil Ankle, principal of Jonathan Grant High School in St Catherine, is lamenting the lack of proper sidewalks close to the White Church Street, Spanish Town, school. He is adamant that the situation is a disaster waiting to happen, as the school's students are endangered.

He labelled the area around Jonathan Grant High a hazard zone and chided the powers that be for neglecting the situation.

"They said they don't have any money,
but if a motor vehicle hits six and kills six, you will see how fast
they find the money. We are reactive, rather than proactive," Dr Ankle
emphasised.

The sidewalk near the the institution is
covered in shrubbery and debris, with stagnant water al.so in the
vicinity. Dr Ankle blamed the deplorable conditions on a pile-up of
debris discarded on the sidewalk after drain-cleaning. This forces
students to walk in the roadway, putting them at risk of injury,
especially from public-passenger vehicles that use the road
recklessly.

"The biggest problem is the minibus. The
way they drive on the road is a joke. There are times when they are on
the road and motorists have to be blowing their horns at them," Ankle
remarked. He described the scene outside Jonathan Grant's gates as "a
sea of blue", as the school's approximately 2,300 students arrive and
leave on two shifts daily. The morning shift begins at 7 a.m. and ends
at noon, while the evening shift begins at noon and runs until 5:30
p.m.

EVENING RUSH

"In the evening,
this is a major thoroughfare. When it touches 5:30 p.m. and everyone is
leaving and the buses start to race, it's a major concern," Dr Ankle
said.

Dr Ankle said that in an effort to reduce the
risk of disaster, he has asked students to exit from the school's back
gate. He has also urged them to walk in single file and use the sidewalk
adjacent to the school, which is in better
condition.

Dr Ankle said he inherited the problem and
was unable to say when the situation developed. "I've been at Jonathan
Grant since January 2012, and that's how it was when I came," he said,
adding "the stagnant water takes away from the
ambience."

Ankle expressed his regret at having to
welcome students to the new school term with an old problem, but advised
that he would be holding talks with the school's board in an attempt to
identify a temporary solution.

"I will approach the
board when we have our first board meeting at the beginning of the
school term. I would love to have a pedestrian crossing erected at both
gates. The other temporary solution is to try to get the students
walking on the other side. It's very dangerous with their backs turned
to the traffic," Dr Ankle said.

In June of this year,
the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) had visited Jonathan Grant High
in its school public awareness campaign.