THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WOULD like to comment on the profound (though incomplete) point raised by Bychan Brown in a letter to the Editor in the Tuesday, January 26 edition of The Gleaner (re: Jamaica's dysfunctional culture of indisciplined drivers being the main culprit in the traffic death of a Merl Grove student).
Although Mr. Brown may be correct in placing substantial blame on an indisciplined public in terms of everyday road use, he should also visit the argument that it is the critical role of responsible government agencies to provide leadership in not only seeking to educate commuters on the need for road safety awareness and courtesy but also to pursue a proactive range of pre-emptive solutions.
What is missing, in my view, is a responsive local government bureaucracy to identify resources for effective solutions (e.g. the placement of traffic cops, traffic signs, traffic cameras, pedestrian crosswalk lights, crossing guard personnel, elevated crosswalks etc.) in a timely manner. In today's sluggish global economy, local governments worldwide are suffering from fiscal/budgetary shortfalls. The difference is that in countries where there are appropriately decentralised and (fiscally) empowered local government structures, grassroots constituents are given a fighting chance to participate in proactive decision-making as far as how their hard-earned taxes are spent.
Thus, it would follow that maybe a significant part of the current problem is the fact that the island's road traffic management system has become unwieldy due to the excessive centralisation of critical planning and implementation of resources in the National Works Agency.
I am, etc.,
G.O. WHITTAKER
garfield.whittaker@csun.edu
Department of Geography
California State University
Los Angeles
Via Go-Jamaica
