Visa vehicle hustle - Parking business booms outside US Embassy

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

In the sweltering heat of the mid-morning sun, as traffic bustles along Hope Road, St Andrew, in the vicinity of the United States Embassy, men from nearby Standpipe dart among moving vehicles to secure parking for motorists conducting business at the embassy.

Last Tuesday, as other adults rushed
off to work and some children awaited buses,
Automotives observed the 'parkers' gathered on the
sidewalk opposite the embassy and the dual carriageway's median, looking
out for motorists needing a parking space.

One man,
dressed in red shirt and blue jeans, sporting an unkempt hairstyle,
strode along the sidewalk, beckoning to motorists. With his hands held
high and ignoring the dangers of stepping out into the road, he gestured
to the vehicles passing by.

"Parking, parking!" His
shouts filled the air, amid the throb of engines and constant honking of
motor vehicle horns. Mere metres away, on the other side of Hope Road,
persons queued up quietly to go inside the
embassy.

When traffic came to a halt at the stoplight,
he was daring enough to tap on windows, asking motorists if they needed
to park.

Safe parking

The hustlers
are organised, it turns out. The man, who declined to give his name as
the 'business' is being monitored by a 'supervisor', explained that the
cost of parking varies. He emphasised that vehicles left in Standpipe,
as well as near a wholesale at the community's entrance, are quite
safe.

At least four cars had already been neatly
parked at the wholesale, all facing outward, during
Automotives' visit on Tuesday.

He
mentioned that because of disputes among certain groups in the
community, one set of men parks vehicles below the stoplight across from
the embassy, while others operate a parking set-up on the other side of
the stoplight.

"We are out here sometimes from as
early as 5 a.m. It costs between $200 and $300 to park. I have been out
here since the embassy open and parking the cars safe, safe, totally
safe. We live on the lane and nobody can touch the cars on the lane," he
said.

The safety of vehicles entrusted to the parking
service was also emphasised by a woman who had accompanied a friend who
parked his vehicle close to the lane and went inside the US Embassy.
"They don't trouble it. Your car is very safe. You can leave it and go
anywhere," she said.

A police officer on duty outside
the embassy pointed out that for security reasons parking is not offered
to visitors.

In 2007, then consul general at the
United States Embassy, Ed Wehrli, was quoted in The
Gleaner as saying that there were ample parking spaces in
proximity to the embassy.

"There is ample parking very
close to the embassy. I drive into the embassy every day and I see
dozens of parking areas, which are free spaces, parking lots which are
not more than 100 or 200 yards from the embassy," he
said.

No complaints

Wehrli also said
"we know that there is ample commercial parking on Munroe Road and Old
Hope Road". Speaking to a consistency in the US Embassy's approach, he
told a Rotary Club of Downtown Kingston meeting in January 2007 that "we
do not provide free parking for the public; we did not at the old spot.
I don't know of any other major embassy or high commission that does
provide free parking".

An officer at the Matilda's
Corner Police Station told Automotives that he is not
aware of complaints from motorists who access in the informal parking
system. "I haven't heard any; no, not to my knowledge. You know, the way
these people park the vehicles, they park it so neatly that it appears
as if it is the occupants of the premises that park the vehicle. When
you go up there you cannot differentiate whether or not it is the
occupant of the premises' vehicle, because the vehicle doesn't cause an
obstruction," the officer
said.