SPALDINGS, Clarendon:
RESIDENTS AND business owners in Spal-dings, Clarendon, are calling on the Clarendon Parish Council and the Ministry of Local Government to take the necessary steps to have that town acquire a much-needed transportation centre.
According to them, the streets of Spaldings have become "one large parking lot" and is inundated with taxi operators. Paul Lyn, who is a supermarket and wholesale operator in the town, in an interview with The Gleaner, said his business is being affected by the influx of taxis, noting that the front of his business is being used as a transport centre. The management of the Super Plus Food Store as well as the operators of Best Buys Variety Store have shared similar sentiments.
Mr. Lyn said that a few years ago, his father, now deceased, gave taxi operators permission to use an empty lot adjacent to his business, as a temporary transport centre. However, according to him, the space has now become extremely "tight" and unable to accommodate the large number of vehicles trying to occupy the spot.
Mr. Lyn noted that the Government has been promising for quite a while to assist with the putting up of a transportation centre but has, so far, failed to deliver. "It is very bad," he said. "We have a serious problem on our hands and something has to be done. We had given the permission for the taxis to park on our lot, but now all the Mandeville taxis and minibuses, as well as those taxis that take passengers to Knox and other places are blocking the entrance to my business place, so my customers have nowhere to park their vehicles," stated Mr. Lyn.
Another businessman, who did not want to be identified in the story, said that the entire town has become congested, especially on Fridays and Saturdays. He noted that the problem is further compounded by higglers who refuse to sell their wares in the market, prefering to sell on the streets.
The businessman noted that the problem of congestion in the town could be helped if the police in that town were making their presence felt. He said the police are not monitoring things properly and are indirectly contributing to the problem. He said there were times when taxi operators, "legal and illegal", would stop their vehicles in the middle of the road, in the presence of the police for long periods, holding up traffic.
"Drivers sometimes even double park in the presence of the police and the thing is this, it is now totally out of control. I have witnessed a police officer being hit down by a taxi driver and when I called the police officer and asked him what he was going to do about it, his reply was that he was afraid. Now if he is afraid, who should I call when someone pull a gun at me?"
Mr. Lyn agreed. He said the police are not carrying out their duties properly and until they start doing so the problems in that town will continue to exist. "If I were running my supermarket business, like how the police are running Spaldings, I would have been bankrupt long time," noted Mr. Lyn.
The Spaldings police are maintaining that they are hard-pressed to deal with the problem, noting that they are woefully short on manpower.
