Woeful waste - Silver Pen awardee wants citizens input for gov't developments
Published:Saturday | July 10, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer
Clifton Yap, The Gleaner's Silver Pen awardee, is raising concerns about the way successive governments have been implementing projects. He argues that enough attention is not being paid to proper planning and that the country normally pays dearly for the ill-advised use of its resources.
"Many times it is not that a project is unnecessary or not important, but it is just that they haven't been carried out properly," Yap told The Gleaner on Thursday.
In a letter penned to the editor, titled 'That US$65m Palisadoes Road', which earned him the Silver Pen award for the month of April, Yap lashed out against the plans by the Government to construct a four-lane road along the Palisadoes strip which connects Harbour View, East Kingston, to the Norman Manley International Airport.
Road upgrade
Government plans to spend US$65 million to upgrade and protect the existing roadway from storm surges.
Yap has argued that the project, which is about to be undertaken despite the absence of public consultation or stakeholder input, is ill-conceived.
The construction of the two additional lanes would only be to the benefit of the Chinese contractors, Yap said.
"At the end of it all, another foreign company and country will have benefited handsomely from this country, while the poor, long-suffering Jamaican people, along with their children and future generations, will once again be saddled with more onerous taxes," he argued.
"This is a result of ministers and heads of agencies being able to use their power and authority with total disregard for the public's interest," he added.
Prime examples
Yap said the Highway 2000 project and the Inner-City Housing Project are prime examples of projects that were not properly carried out.
He has recommended that, in doing major projects, the Government should first carry out feasibility studies as well as allow stakeholders the opportunity to contribute to the planning exercise.
"There should be a requirement that we stop doing development in secret. We are talking about things that cost a lot of money so the public need to have time to examine and to have a say in how these projects are carried out," he said.