Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
A view of the rugged countryside of Port Maria.
THERE ARE few towns that can rival the raw, rugged beauty of Port Maria, St. Mary.
As the traveller approaches town, the first thing that hits him is the gorgeous aquamarine waters of the bay. Waves, crested by white, roll towards land and are neatly broken into two by the breakwater where they separate and growl against the nearby shore. Birds glide on invisible air currents for minutes at a time.
The mysteriously-looking Cabarita Island sits at the lip of the bay like a green pill of seven-and-a-half acres of lush vegetation and rock. It is only a three-quarter mile swim from the khaki sands nearby.
From Noel Coward's Firefly property a looping g-string of black road hugs the swells and curves of the hills. Mere words only belittle the sight, but you do not realise you have stopped breathing until your chest first hitches and then, reluctantly, you breathe again.
However, even against this beauty, serious problems exist in Port Maria, capital of the nation's 'poorest parish'.
Ironically, there is a water problem.
A few metres from the Jamaica Regiment Whitehorne Barracks on the outskirts of town, a band of children and women fill containers from a standpipe.
"The water bill is high and we're not getting any water," said Louise Robinson, a 63-year-old resident of Bailey's Vale.
"I haven't had any water in my pipe for six months, so every Tuesday and Friday I have to pay $200 to come here and full water. It is very frustrating, not to mention expensive," she said.
"When my husband died a few years ago, I couldn't manage to pay my water bill and they cut it off. The NWC (National Water Commission) sent me a bill for $44,000 last month, yet I don't get any water. The water truck doesn't even come up to my house," she continued.
Men and women share hospital ward
On the Martin Ward of the Port Maria Hospital male and female patients share the space because of the scaling down of operations at the Type C facility.
"It is embarrassing for me as a woman. There is no privacy. I have a bleeding problem and every time a man walks through, I have to cover up," a female patient at the hospital confided.
Major surgery has not been performed at the hospital since 1992. Although there is an operating theatre, patients are sent to Annotto By for major surgeries. The Annotto Bay Hospital, with one surgeon, is 17 miles away. The next closest hospital is in St. Ann's Bay, St. Ann.
"The bigger hospital should be in the parish capital and it ought to at least offer X-ray services. Horace Clarke (MP) not doing anything to help we. This is ridiculous!" one irate man in the town centre said.
Administrator June Thyme refused to comment on the issue and directed all queries to "Owen Belvett, the regional director."
There are positive signs of progress though. The NWC recently made connections at Rio Nuevo from the White River treatment plant in Ocho Rios and the St. Mary Parish Council is now refurbishing a building on premises adjoining the Council for street people in Port Maria.
The rehabilitation of the old Georgian courthouse -- built in 1820 and destroyed by fire in 1987 -- is nearing completion. It will be called the Port Maria Civic Centre and will have provisions for an interpretative museum, retail shops, meeting rooms, and office and restaurant space.
Another plus is the stately cut stone St. Mary Parish Church which was built in 1861 and whose bell is still functional. The church won a 'Heritage in Architecture' award in 1987.
Other places of interest include Claude Stewart Park, which hosts the annual 'Emancipation Vigil' and Noel Coward's Firefly, a favourite of tourists that affords a picturesque view of the rugged countryside.
