Howard Gregory EARLIER THIS week I left my office in downtown Montego Bay and took one of my usual walks through the centre of the city as I went on one of my usual rounds to keep in touch with life in the city and to conduct personal business. My trip took me into one of the banks, where, although I have been offered the courtesy of service without joining long lines, I have decided to use the lines except when circumstances dictate otherwise. As on other occasions I listened to the kinds of conversation persons have especially those which are conducted at a level for others to hear and often soliciting the involvement of other persons. Behind me was a customer who was soon followed by a friend and a conversation ensued.
In the conversation, the gentleman expressed the most cynical and hopeless view of life in Jamaica and Montego Bay which I have heard for a long time. He expressed the view that beyond the exercise of his franchise, he and the population remain powerless to get anything done by the political leadership of the country, except to just sit and be 'raped' by them until the next time to exercise the franchise comes again, only to go through the same experience. His female friend tried desperately to share with him a more positive and hopeful view of the power which he and the rest of the nation exercise, but he remained unmoved.
STATE OF ACQUIESCENCE
Finally, he said in some kind of exasperation, "It is only when people burn tyres and block road like they have done down at Flankers that they get any response or attention." A gentleman before me who was not involved in the conversation up to this point, turned and shared a smile of agreement with the speaker at this point. It was clear to me that the female friend had the wind pulled from her sail at this point and she retreated into a kind of state of acquiescence.
In a strange way, these characters represent the mood of many of the people of Montego Bay as I have experienced them. There are those who are seething with frustration and see little hope of things changing; those who want to see a silver lining somewhere, but whose sense of hope is flickering; while there are those who, while not articulating their frustration, share the sentiments of those who articulate it. Persons have lived with a city which reflects an awful lot of neglect, dirt, congestion, lack of amenities and yet the recipients of ritual observances which declare them to be a city, and cannot see where this is reflected in reality. The truth is that while Montego Bay is touted as a tourist centre for the island, and indeed, the place where most tourists make their entry to the island, it is far from a place that presents itself in such a fashion.
HOSPITALITY BUSINESS
Consequently, those who court the tourists and are directly involved in the hospitality business have to carve out a kind of Mecca on their property, the all-inclusive hotels being a good example, or they shuttle the tourists in vehicles and along pathways that do not allow them to see the real Montego Bay.
Since I assumed my Office in Montego Bay I often get asked what is Montego Bay like and how are they treating you. My response has been and continues to be, the people are wonderful, but the city remains a picture of neglect and dirt. Obviously there are persons who would immediately take umbrage at any such assessment, but let me share something of the perspective from which I have experienced the city. When I stand in the Sam Sharpe Square, the civic centre of the city, a place where you hardly see a tourist, and for obvious reasons, one can take any street or lane that leads from that centre and one will be treated to free-flowing sewer water, sidewalks on which one is constantly at risk of falling, piles of garbage and an unbelievable congestion of the traffic with little space for parking. When traffic lights malfunction they take ages to be repaired.
HORSE TRACKS
At the moment it has been weeks since the one at Union Street and Dome Street has worked, while the one at the intersection of Church Street and St. James Street has not worked for the past year. The residential community in which I live has been developed some three decades now and the Parish Council has not done any work to the streets now turning horse tracks, and continues to give the residents as an excuse for their inactivity the fact that the developer did not complete the work he was supposed to do. This kind of explanation is so puerile that I would have expected it from some other source. This is the same institution that approved the conditions of the subdivision by the developer and now absolves itself of any responsibility for action in bringing to book the developer for his violation of the terms of the sub-division. In recent days I have learnt that this developer is neither dead, nor has he migrated, but continues to be a major beneficiary of public contracts.
The point is that Montego Bay, as it relates to the public domain is positioning itself to lose its history and designation as a major tourist centre of this island, and while the improvements to the Howard Cooke Highway are being touted as improvements to Montego Bay, the cynic in me sees it as a by-pass road to the Montego Bay that once was.
SQUALOR AND NEGLECT
Additionally, it is my fervent belief that a people who feel hopeless about their situation and who are made to live with squalor and neglect as they go about their daily life, will not be a people given to hospitality to the stranger in their midst. Our people must begin to see in the city of Montego Bay a public system of responsiveness and activity which affirms us as human beings deserving of more than the squalor to which we have been designated.
Over the past few weeks the spotlight has been on Montego Bay because of the outbreak of violence and popular protest which has surfaced. The level of venom which I saw expressed in some of the activities suggest to me that there is much more baggage being brought to the fore than the precipitating events themselves generated. While we usually do not measure these developments in terms of the price tag for the corrective action, I believe that all of us should take note.
It is a more costly activity to mop up after the crisis than to take corrective/ameliorative steps before the crisis. These are urgently needed for Montego Bay. I believe that the bottom line is not just the price tag but whether there are sufficient persons who care, especially among those who have been elected and are employed to see to the welfare of the citizens. May God help us if, as the gentleman said in the bank, "It is only when people burn tyres and block road like they have done down at Flankers that they get any response or attention."
The Rt. Revd. Dr. Howard Gregory is Suffragan Bishop of Montego Bay.
