THE EDITOR, Sir:
THIS LETTER has to do with a recent visit I made to downtown Montego Bay. Before this, I had already been robbed three times on these streets, but, this experience was to add insult to injury.
Initially, I was embarrassed, then, in pain, I was cursing the city of Montego Bay for its careless incompetence. I was embarrassed because, in front of a group of street-savvy individuals, I had exposed my foreign vulnerability and had, unwittingly, stepped into something that Jamaicans usually avoid because they are accustomed to the daily obstacle course and dodge it without thought. Then, I felt anger rise within me.
Some of the wealthiest Jamaicans live in Montego Bay. They live in luxurious homes and drive expensive cars, yet, near 3 Church Street, existed this partially open, filthy gutter, left on the street like a trap for unsuspecting pedestrians, and, I had to wonder, why would a tourist city allow such a thing to exist on the streets where those they depend on for a living can be injured. And, why to those who might do something the wealthy, for example about such conditions, doing nothing.
The pain was excruciating. And, so was the worry that I had been exposed to one of the filthiest of environments and may already have taken into my bloodstream countless numbers of dangerous bacteria. I wondered about tetanus because of the rusty steel that had gouged my flesh along with the ragged concrete. I silently bled on the street hoping that my long ago tetanus vaccine would be effective still.
Later, after $500 worth of treatment, I boarded one of those horrors, a mini-bus, to go home. As I travelled, I thought about how I should have had photos taken, got names/addresses of witnesses. I wondered whose department is responsible for such public neglect. Was it the Mayor's office? The Parish Council? The local Member of Parliament? Where does the 'buck' stop?
In any event, it is hard to believe that a city that makes a living from tourism would be so thoughtless and careless. Perhaps it is because of the lack of easy access to the courts and the seemingly anarchical system under which Jamaica exists that such laxity can be gotten away with. It seems that in Jamaica, it is every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost. It seems, those who cannot stand the social stench of Jamaica or the filth at their gate, simply cope by building a higher wall and ensconce themselves in their air-conditioned cars so they can pretend that all is rosy and sweet. I have to assume that none of them walk anywhere and never encounter what I did.
The beautiful Jamaica that foreigners hear about seems nothing more than a facade. Jamaicans can lie to themselves and be blind to the reality of the incompetence, the dirt, the violence and the hopelessness of their lives. But, "that's the way things are in Jamaica!" Right? "Jamaica! No problem!"
I am, etc.,
MARRIAN BERTIN-THOMAS
jamcancon@yahoo.com
504-220 Townsite Road
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Canada
Via Go-Jamaica
