Letter of the Day | Downtown Kingston is a disgrace

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I spend a lot of time in downtown Kingston. I work there, and I shop there … or I should say, I TRY to shop there.

I have been waiting for years for successive governments to make good on their promise to FIX the area. It has not yet happened, and I feel like the conditions are only getting worse.

It is clear to anyone that the KSAMC is either incompetent and therefore incapable of performing its task or just does not want to. The state of what would be prime real estate anywhere else in the world is, quite frankly, disgusting.

Recent reports are that the mayor and his people are “unreachable” at this time. How convenient. What are the criteria for being hired to the KSAMC – a non-functioning cell phone and the ability to ignore the people? Are these people accountable to anyone? Who takes responsibility?

There are so many issues involving such a small area, but I want to just mention a few.

The pandemic has hit everyone hard, but did anyone tell downtown Kingston? Where are the health protocols? What measures are being put in place there?

Higglers are a core part of what makes downtown so great, but where is the structure? The organisation? And the need to control and contain the spread of COVID-19?

And on the subject of health, I remember walking along the street, weaving through the vendors and their makeshift stalls – a practice that could very well be pleasurable and exciting in the right location – and heard an ambulance. The vehicle could not pass. The road was completely blocked. Eventually, the ambulance had to reverse and find an alternative route. Imagine how many persons may have died waiting on access for that ambulance.

God forbid, a fire should break out in the area. With the structures and stalls as they are, I’m sure a blaze would be seen for miles, with no fire truck or firefighter able to reach the scene. Vendors and business owners alike would see their investments burnt to the ground.

NEED TO DO BETTER

And what about security? How many cars get stolen or broken into in the downtown Kingston area? How can we as a people say “visit our beautiful capital” when it has become a haven for thieves and criminality?

But for sure, you will see a representative of the KSAMC towing a vehicle from a shopper or worker, when there is so much other mayhem taking place all over the district that go seemingly ignored.

It is not fair. It is not right. It is a disgrace and a shame. The KSAMC needs to do better. The mayor needs to do better. The minister of local government needs to do better.

Our people deserve a capital they can be proud of, not one they can hardly step into, much less drive through.

CONCERNED KINGSTONIAN