Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter
Andrew Wildes (right), Gleaner Silver Pen awardee for the month of August, converses with Garfield Grandison, Editor-in-Chief at The Gleaner. The occasion was the presentation of the Silver Pen Award, held at the Gleaner Company's North Street head office in central Kingston yesterday. - ANDREW SMITH/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
CRITICAL ROADS in Jamaica are made impassable too often, which results in a loss of productivity, says Andrew Wildes, Gleaner Silver Pen Awardee for the month of August.
He received his award from Gleaner Editor-in-Chief, Garfield Grandison during a presentation at the newspaper's head office on North Street in central Kingston yesterday.
Frustrated with the constant blocking of the Mount Rosser main road in St. Catherine, Mr. Wildes, a resident of St. Ann, used his pen to express his annoyance in a letter to The Gleaner.
The letter entitled 'The Mount Rosser Conundrum' was published on August 29, 2005.
ANOTHER ROUTE FOR TRUCKS
"It must be indisputably clear to all by now that there needs be another route for trucks to enter Kingston from St. Ann besides the pernicious hillsides of Mount Rosser," he wrote.
A frustrated Mr. Wildes, who was on his way from Kingston to St. Ann, was stuck in traffic on the Mount Rosser main road for more than three hours, after three trucks had crashed at different sections of the road.
"Can it be that another road is so unimaginable, so impossible? Can it be that this problem will never be addressed, and all drivers of lesser vessels will continue to mount the hill in crippling fear?" he asked.
"If roads are not good and they are constantly damaged, then we would lose productivity," the University of the West Indies student told The Gleaner yesterday.
The 18-year-old, who enjoys writing, said too many young people are caught up in the materialistic culture and have wrong values and ideals.
Mr. Wildes, who has written several letters to The Gleaner, urged young people to follow his footsteps and write, as it is one of the best way to express themselves.
