This is the continuation of The Gleaner's Editors' Forum which was carried in yesterday's Sunday Gleaner. The forum travelled to the cool, lush Mandeville last week where some 47 leading personalities from that area gathered at the Golf View Hotel to discuss burning issues affecting the parish of Manchester. The group represented social, civic, health, education, farming, religion, tourism and business interests in the fast developing township and surrounding communities. Here are excerpts from the discussion:
ON TRAFFIC CONGESTION
IN MANDEVILLE
Calvin Lyn head of the Lay Magistrates Association:
I would like to suggest the area from Sufferers Corner at the traffic lights, past the parcels store on to the other light, take the main street, that the two lanes be used to turn right.
At present, you are only allowed to turn right on the green arrows using the centre lane, but indisciplined drivers have been doing so using the outside lane.
My suggestion to assist in clearing that area is to have both lanes turning right. The outside lane you would have the arrow indicating that you can turn right because dual driveway up the main street and those who are going down Caledonia Road continue straight down on Caledonia Road. And that, in my opinion, will clear it.
ON THE PROPOSED
AIRPORT FOR MANDEVILLE
Earl McLaughlin from Jamaica National Building Society:
There is a horse that is beaten over and over again, and we speak to now tourism and the spin offs that I think we can get. I think we are missing a great opportunity for the Mandeville Central and Jamaica in fact. This business of an airport, that is a horse that has been beaten over and over. I am not so sure now where we are with that, but I think that could have been an excellent way to really move Manchester, in fact the whole central region.
We are talking about tourism, cargo. I am from the Christiana area where people traffic in yams and so on, it's a difficult thing to move their products.
We think of cargo planes, that can happen here.
Rev. Fitz Laing Andrews Memorial United Church:
One of the things may be helpful for us as a town and as parish is for persons to spearhead events and collaborate as much as possible. For example, the airport initiative, the land is available, the studies have been done only the capital is needed. If a group of persons decide to put some money down and ask the community to match it, there are many persons in the community who, if they are showed that they could earn something from this in the long run, they would put their money down as shares or whatever to ensure that this entity comes off the ground.
I believe there has to be more of that kind of collaboration.
Don Cover, Chamber
president:
Manchester Chamber of Commerce were the main people who had initiated this drive about getting an airport in this region, and I must be frank, one of the problems we have in moving this off the ground is that we have not had any support from the Government.
They have said, yes, they will give us the land. They have made some lands available but that is the extent of their interest in trying to get the airport. Now, if you are serious about south coast development and development generally in the region then an airport will make infinite sense. We have spoken to people like Mr. 'Butch' Stewart who is anxious to have an airport in this region so he can bring his people here, in and out. We have not been able to get any assistance or any interest, we have not been able to generate any interest from the Government's side and that is one of the major obstacles.
We have done a lot of preliminary studies, environmental impact study. We have done a feasibility study, we have done most of the business plans and yet we have not been able to get interest going.
ON TOWN PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT
Kevin Curlock:
My concern is about town planning. Anybody who knows Mandeville will understand what I am trying to say. The town, the roads network, the infrastructure, everything in my mind is just arbitrary, I don't get a sense that our administrators are serious about what they are doing.
We need to sit together and plan and organise. By extension that will help us to generate some of the jobs that we are talking about. And I agree with the comment made earlier, I cry really cry when I have to turn away people daily because I cannot offer them a job since my limitations are so much, and I beginning to think I need to get the administrators to think through problems rather than keep on piling things on top of one another and just pussyfooting.
ON BROOKS PARK AND OTHER ENTERTAINMENT POSSIBILITIES
Dr. Herbert Thompson NCU:
Mandeville is considered to be an elitist environment which closes down about 8:30 each night and it seems that no group of business persons is willing to pull resources to provide Mandeville or central Jamaica with any kind of entertainment at all.
If you are a middle-of-the-road conservative, there is not even a movie theatre, and by the way, with due respect to the Parish Council, Brooks Park has been under construction for all my life, the other day I now notice that there is a football field there. We are losing many of our youngsters who are qualified because they too don't want to be around here after they become qualified, that's the thing.
Meredith Pryce-Ogilvie businesswoman
We used to have a sort of situation at Hope Gardens/ Coconut Park where the schools could take trips and family could go and spend a Saturday or Sunday there. There were rides there, and next door was the zoo.
There was good family entertainment. Now looking around there is no such activity or play area in Jamaica where families can go, where a class can go to have fun. I am proposing to the Manchester Parish Council that maybe lands available at Brooks Park could be developed into such an entertainment centre so we can have that kind of attraction for the whole island. If necessary, if the Parish Council cannot do it, then maybe we need to look further afield.
Tony James President of the Manchester Football
Association.
There is a plan to develop Brooks Park what they have now is a plan for an amphitheatre, a mini zoo and all of that. All we probably need to do is get hands and heart together. Try and get the funding and then we can move because we can borrow any amount of money on Brooks Park because that's prime real estate.
ON HEALTH ISSUES
Dr. Orlean Brown Psychologist in Mandeville:
More and more we are seeing children with special needs and we do not have enough facilities to handle them. In another ten years these children are going to be adults. We do not have enough teachers trained in this area. That's something I'd love for us to look at. We also need to look at the mental health issues.
Diana McIntyre-Pike:
The most critical problems that I see that have to be addressed and I don't think it is just for Manchester but for Jamaica but Manchester is a part of this, it is the pollution problem. Many people in Mandeville are having respiratory problems. Sinusitis check the doctors they will tell you.
We have heard from people like Dr. Anthony Vendryes how many people are getting cancer who are coming from our region, we have to start dealing with it.
