Zia Mian
I LIVE above River Ridge on Ridge Way Terrace. Originally Ridge Way Terrace was built to link the Tavistock traffic to Jacks Hill through River Ridge. The bottom half of this road was lost during Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.
The deep-crated road that was left after Gilbert provided the only means of access to the residents living in that area. Unfortunately, during the recovery effort that followed Hurricane Gilbert this little road just fell through the cracks and received no attention.
Every time I travel to and from home, the huge pot holes remind me of the deep rutted roads of East Africa which at one time were the pride of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. During one dry season, I went from the East Coast to Lake Victoria, hardly averaging a top speed of 15 kilometres per hour on half existing roads. To return to the coast, I had to arrange for an air lift.
POORLY MAINTAINED ROADS
While evaluating petroleum supply and distribution options for the land-locked countries of East Africa, I discovered that the asphalted roads, if not maintained, when deteriorated, became worse than dirt roads.
During dry season, the dirt roads are at least passable while the bad asphalted roads are a nightmare for the vehicular traffic throughout the year. Many a dark night, I have lost tyres by hitting sharp edges of pot holes on my way home.
My second lesson has been that the single largest investment that a developing country has is its inventory of road system and high-way network. These, acting as economic corridors, enable the country to move its agricultural produce to market centres and manufactured goods to export centres. Studies show that if these investments are neglected, and the road network is not maintained fully, in the longer term the country can ill-afford to replace dilapidated systems. Hence, in order to protect these investments, appropriate and sustainable road maintenance programs must remain in full force.
There is no point in building new roads while the existing ones are being lost due to lack of maintenance and upgrading. This aspect of national planning is of critical importance for those countries that face on-going threats from hurricanes and tropical storms. Dry season is a time to fix and maintain the roads.
SHIFTING BLAME
Back to my own little access road. Since the early 1990s, I have spoken to various authorities to point out the plight of the residents, pleading that this little road needs attention and fixing. The road had deteriorated to such an extent that the residents were worried about the garbage pick-up truck refusing to come to remove the garbage, thus posing a threat of imminent health epidemic to the area residents and Jamaica.
I contacted the Member of Parliament (MP) for my area and informed him that if the road was not fixed, the garbage truck would be unable to pass and the situation may lead to a health threat. The MP told me that I must talk to the National Works Agency (NWA). When I spoke to NWA, I was informed that the subject road did not belong to NWA and fell under the authority of Local Government. There was nothing that the Ministry of Public Works could do to fix this road.
I had the impression that following a natural disaster, recovery of all roads fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Works. The damage suffered during Gilbert was neither repaired by the Parish Council nor the Ministry of Public Works.
Year after year, promises by Ministers and other politicians have only remained hot air. After continuous buck passing and no one taking the responsibility for the little road, the residents got material and filled some of the more threatening pot holes so that the garbage truck could continue to collect the garbage and residents could access their homes.
We prayed days and nights that God save us from the fury of Ivan the Terrible. It was heartening to learn at about 10 p.m. on September 10 that the eye of the hurricane passed 37 miles south of Kingston. God did answer our prayers and for a short while the hurricane altered its course from a north-west direction to a western direction, and spared Jamaica from its full hurricane force.
JAMAICA'S 9/11
Hurricane Ivan (Ivan the Terrible) has been our 9/11. On its way to the U.S. Gulf Coast (Alabama) it has claimed more than 60 lives, including about 17 in Jamaica. Thank God that the devastation in Jamaica has not been as bad as in Grenada where 94 per cent of the houses were damaged or lost.
The little road that was left by Hurricane Gilbert is about to become history as the retention wall was washed off and we now look down on a 50 feet vertical drop. Residents have to park on the top and walk down.
When I looked at the quality of material and construction, I wonder how this road has lasted for so long. Obviously the contractors were paid for work that was never done. Now I have learnt my next lesson. If the road was properly maintained, we would not be facing the huge investment that will be required to make this road passable again.
God forbid that there is more rain before the road is fixed (if it will ever be!), as the road would fully collapse, taking with it at least six houses that now sit at its edge and might end up at the bottom of the gully. Once again some friends, recognising the plight of the residents, have approached the authorities. Once again we have promises that some one would assess the situation.
SYMPATHETIC
Local Government authorities tell me that, while they are sympathetic, the matter has to be dealt with by the NWA. NWA has assured that an engineer would assess the situation. All we hope is that doctor does not arrive after the patient has already died.
In the meanwhile the residents have bought cement blocks and cement to erect a little water diversion in order to keep the water away from the precipice lest it takes all the children and families down the ever-widening gully.
Thank God that, for the time being, we are alive and dry. One aspect of the disaster preparedness that has been deeply disturbing me is the availability of potable water.
The other day on Tavistock I noticed an old lady sitting on the road side with empty bottles, trying to catch dirty water that was running down the road side. We do need to focus on water supply and garbage collection as top priority recovery efforts.
Water trucks should be distributing water to people who cannot afford to buy bottled water to drink. If not dealt promptly, we may face aftermath of hurricane health epidemic that we cannot afford at this time.
Zia Mian, a retired senior World Bank Official, is an international consultant on information technology and energy. He writes on issues of national, regional and international interest. Please send your comments to mian_zia@hotmail.com or infocus@gleanerjm.com.
