Restart Cornwall Court roadwork
Published:Saturday | July 14, 2012 | 12:00 AM
An open letter to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.
The community of Cornwall Court is home to approximately 16,000 Jamaicans. In less than five years' time, there will be approximately another 3,000 more residents within this area. To reach home from downtown Montego Bay, we drive on the major thoroughfare, Salt Spring road.
This road, Cornwall Court to King Street, was placed on the list of projects under the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme. The road is now worse than it was before work started in February 2011 (completion date was scheduled for February 2012).
This thoroughfare is the worst nightmare of all of us who live along its path, and those who must travel on it to and from home in Cornwall Court. Every form of respiratory illness is experienced. Everybody's pocket is straining financially. Thieves and gunmen have been having major field days in carrying out their dastardly and nefarious activities.
Taxi drivers refuse to carry passengers, and the emergency response agencies take two to three hours, instead of the 15-20 minutes' time, to get to us. These are just some of the ills which have been thrust upon us since the commencement of this work. We have been neglected. Why?
The residents of this community, the largest National Housing Trust scheme in western Jamaica, seek your urgent intervention and are calling upon you to immediately help in alleviating this wicked act which has been foisted upon us.
We further request of you to instruct the honourable minister with responsibility for transport and works, Mr Omar Davies, to immediately restart the project with the intention of making our lives more comfortable.
We are all frustrated by this crisis. It's going to take all of us, working together, to find a way out of this mess. Let's start by giving homeowners and residents of Cornwall Court and those along the Cornwall Court-King Street thoroughfare a fair deal.
Again, we look forward to your support and response within the next seven to 10 days upon receipt of this letter, as we continue empowering our residents for holistic community development.
FLOYD V. HITCHMAN
President,
Cornwall Court Citizens Association