By Erica James-King, Senior Staff Reporter
Queens Drive in Montego Bay is a hotbed of congestion, as flooding caused by heavy rains over the last three days forced motorists to resort to single-lane traffic. The poor drainage and concomitant flooding along Queens Drive has been a recurring problem over several years. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
TAXI OPERATORS are bearing the brunt of scathing criticisms from some sector leaders in western Jamaica, who are blaming them for being the major contributors to the worrying congestion in the 'second city'.
The sector interests contend that the "indisciplined" use of the roads by scores of operators have mired the resort town of Montego Bay in a chronic congestion problem, that needs to be urgently addressed by the authorities.
The condemnation comes on the heels of protests by taxi operators islandwide, who are up in arms over the latest increases in licensing fees and fees for traffic breaches.
Representatives of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, the St. James Parish Council and the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association are charging that there is a mushrooming of the number of taxis using round-abouts for pick-up and drop-off points, as well as utilising the main roads in the town for other illegal parking activities.
Mark Kerr-Jarrett, president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, said, "Many are using the Market Street Round-about near the LoJ Shopping Centre as a stop, and they don't seem to care about the serious pile-up of traffic they are causing. They use some gas stations as bus parks, thus creating traffic and safety problems."
Lamenting the negligence of the police in enforcing traffic laws in the resort town, the MoBay Chamber boss said the police need to be more visible in monitoring the flow of traffic through the town.
"Last week, in our (the Chamber's) discussion with Police Commissioner Francis Forbes, he promised that the police would be cleaning up its act in Montego Bay, with regards to how it regularises traffic. We are hoping that the police will stick to that promise," said Mr. Kerr-Jarrett.
Meanwhile, the St. James Parish Council is also wringing its hands in frustration over the refusal of taxi drivers to use designated taxi stands. Responding to questions from The Gleaner, the Secretary/Manager of the St. James Parish Council argued, "The taxi men have been very defiant when it comes to using designated parking areas."
"During late November/early December we ensured that proper facilities were in place at the taxi stand at St. Claver Avenue before we insisted that they use the location. Even so very few of the drivers are using that location and they continue to park along the streets." The vehicle operators who run afoul of the law when they refuse to use the Mount Claver taxi stand ply the Mount Salem, Sign and Tucker routes. Other route taxi operators are also flouting the directive from the Council to use the Municipal Bus Terminal.
Urging the public transport operators to desist from illegal activity, Mr. Powell says he is anxiously awaiting moves to implement new parking regulations which are now before Cabinet. The St. James Parish Council official is hoping the regulations will become a reality before April, thereby giving the Council the authority to toe away vehicles found in no-parking areas.
The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), while blaming the taxi drivers for some of the congestion woes in St. James, said it is adamant that the root of the car problem lies in the absence of a traffic plan for Montego Bay. "There is no comprehensive transport plan for the city, only repeated short-term or stop-gap measures over the years," bemoaned Josef Forstmayr, president of the JHTA.
