Garth Rattray | Marcus Garvey Drive - 'nobody canna cross it!'

It rained heavily and, once again, the new and improved essential corridor, Marcus Garvey Drive, was so flooded that 'nobody canna cross it!'

I remember a time when Marcus Garvey Drive was never inundated whenever it rained heavily. However, when there was industrial construction at the traffic light intersection near the Tinson Pen Airdrome, flooding occurred there, but it never extended very far.

At that time, once your vehicle survived the localised flooding near to the 'Zinc Factory', it was smooth sailing, excuse me, smooth driving, thereafter. But now, after all the so-called improvement, I see horrifying pictures and video clips of vehicles surrounded by deep water. Even the in-bond vehicles were endangered by the floodwaters.

Huge trucks were seen surging slowly through the floodwaters. Many stalled cars and buses were parked, swamped by the opaque deluge. The interior of many vehicles was ruined. Drivers and pedestrians alike were stranded in the man-made lake that was once a busy, multi-lane thoroughfare. This dry-weather corridor is an embarrassment to the engineers and contractors who constructed it.

The scene was reminiscent of a downpour of greater proportions, several months ago, that dumped tons of water on Kingston and St Andrew. The run-off made its way towards the southern shore, but its retreat was impeded by the new and improved Marcus Garvey Drive. The resultant flood was worse then. It caused many cars to float, and destroyed an undetermined amount of income-earning produce.

At that time, the usual perfunctory, inadequate explanations were trotted out for public appeasement. But, as far as I am aware, no remedial actions have taken place. Hence, this flooding again.

With Three Miles out of service, the traffic pile-up was legendary and prolonged. Since then, because I don't own an amphibious vehicle and because I'm not an accomplished swimmer, I've paid very close attention to the weather before attempting to venture along Marcus Garvey Drive. This multibillion-dollar, multi-lane essential corridor is only fit for fair weather.

Other places have suffered from flooding since 'progress' has caused the construction of highways and/or housing solutions that completely block or impede the natural flow of storm water through or from communities.

POLLUTION AND DEBRIS

The ridiculous flooding that we see in people's houses, swamping their yards, submerging walls and lapping at the top of road signs are usually blamed on pollution and debris. Frankly, I don't buy that contrived rot. It seems to me that pollution and debris only play a role in some cases of flooding.

What really gets me is the lack of accountability, repair and reparation. We can never hear who messed up. The people responsible for the debacles are always nameless, faceless 'contractors' and engineers who have already collected loads of money for jobs poorly done. There's never any apology.

There is no one to sue if your vehicle is damaged or destroyed by flood because of mistakes made by whomever is responsible for the road construction. And, if a life is lost, it's just too bad.

The silence on the Marcus Garvey Drive debacle is deafening. In a more just society, there would be hell to pay for the poor job done on that essential corridor. If this were China, the same country that we are becoming so indebted to, the country that we have come to rely on to upgrade our roadway infrastructure and several other large construction undertakings, someone would have been arrested for that poor job. But in Jamaica, it's relegated to an unfortunate condition that we must suffer.

And so, with that attitude of unaccountability, nonchalance and callous disregard, we can expect more debacles occurring with major construction projects way into the future.

- Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm and garthrattray@gmail.com.