THE EDITOR, Sir:

I WAS taken aback Saturday morning when I decided to venture into Kingston from Portmore via the causeway. I found it so strange that the traffic flowing from the toll plaza was not moving at the pace that one has come to expect on a largely non-working day.

I have, since the institution of the toll road, got used to persons using the $1,000 bill to pay the toll so that they can get change for children's lunch money or in the case of the taxis and executive buses - make change for their passengers. But, this is not a practice that one would normally witness on the weekends.

I patiently waited my turn. I paid my $140 but, strangely, the barriers were not released. I gave the operator an interrogative look without saying anything. Her response to the look was that my toll was short $30. I was horrified as I knew that I had tendered four $10 coins so I enquired of her how much money I had given to her. Her response then was that the toll was increased the previous night.

To put it mildly, I was not amused. I am really disgusted and I know that I speak for many Portmore residents, at the Nicodemian manner in which this increase was done. There were no advertisements in the media or warning signs approaching the toll plaza to alert the users of an impending increase or the increase itself. It bothers me also about the timing of this increase. School reopens on Monday, September 7, and many persons will not know of the increase until the first day of school - a known period of chaos for those who traverse between Portmore and Kingston and those who have little or no alternative but to use the causeway in the mornings.

Hoodwinked!

The Portmore residents have been hoodwinked; we have been sold out; we have been held captive by the toll operators against our will. Some of us have no choice but to use the toll road in the mornings, but let us be even more deliberate in only using it then. I think that if there were ever a time for a united Portmore it is surely now. We must bond together, putting aside partisan politics and fight for a cause. We must send a message to the toll operators that it is not business as usual and that we will not allow this parasitic relationship to continue.

I am, etc.,

PAT BIGNALL

wilbig@cwjamaic.com