Revitalising Downtown Kingston

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I WRITE on two fronts, the first to do with the call for the Opposition Leader to represent all of his constituents in his constituency, who do not wish to be associated with the JLP, and second, in support of Mr. Ralston Nembhard's call for the development of Kingston's downtown area.

In the case of the Opposition Leader, I am surprised to see that the Councillor for the area is requesting a list of names of people who are from the PNP, I would think that having your name on a paper with a political party association in West Kingston is like having a death sentence served on you, especially after the shoot-out of July. Anyone wanting to limit their political options/life would be the only one painting themself as a political supporter.

So asking for names is not likely to get a response. If Mr. Seaga wishes to represent his entire constituency, he would not have to be asked to see to the needs of those who do not sing his sankey. The level of political immaturity among those so old as to be thought of as statesman, can only lead me to wonder and wander...

As for the renewal of downtown Kingston, the charge for redevelopment by the merchants is somewhat unclear. Any study of the ownership records for downtown Kingston might reveal who owns most of it. Normally, development is the prerogative of an owner, so if they want the development, they should make a plan and present it.

May I propose the following:

1) The land owners of downtown are the masters of its destiny.

2) The government can provide incentive for the owners of these properties to develop them.

3) Planning to revitalise downtown Kingston can provide the framework for the way forward.

4) Financing can be made available if the right mix is there. We are a creative lot, I'm sure that we can achieve this.

5) The planning needs to include the needs of the now displaced thousands of residents who live in tenement situations downtown.

I call them displaced because 70 persons to a yard is not a number that one can safely call normal in a space such as this. Clearly, this is too large a number to sustain in a residential single-home community. More creativeness required. So the challenges continue, I hope to add to the solutions one of these days.

I am etc.,

HUGH M. DUNBAR

hmd-energy@erols.com

West New York,

New Jersey

Via Go-Jamaica

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