THE EDITOR, Sir:
St. Thomas is sometimes regarded as one of the most unfortunate of the parishes. It is susceptible to all the natural disasters. It is used for most of the experiments by Government. It suffers from underexposure and it has constantly been the victim of fluctuating political fortunes. Yet St. Thomas is one of the most beautiful parishes in Jamaica. It possesses a mix of natural resources that gives it a comfortable base for economic development.
One of the major problems is that developmental policies for the parish have lagged far behind the economic potential of the parish. One of the problems begging for a permanent solution is the quality of road access to the parish. Whenever there are flood rains the bridge at Bull Bay and the Yallahs Fording become impassable either both at the same time or one of them. The Government has spent millions of dollars in trying to correct this problem of access. A concrete fording and Bailey Bridge were built but destroyed by flood rains. The end result is that after spending in excess of 20M dollars Yallahs Fording is worse than before.
PROPER SEWAGE SYSTEM
A major resurfacing of the Road from Harbour View to Morant Bay was done less than ten years ago. The road is now a travesty of the beautiful road surface we saw then. Trucks transporting aggregates out of the parish have simply wreaked havoc on the road. Then there is the problem of a proper sewage system for the capital Morant Bay.
Community based groups in the parish have all been lobbying for a special fund to be set up to assist in the infrastructural development of the parish. Each day over two hundred and fifty trucks, transport aggregates averaging twenty tons per truck out of the parish. The only payment made on this is the collection of 3 per cent royalties paid by the quarries to the Govern-ment of Jamaica. The proposal in simplified form suggests that if $50 were charged per ton of aggregate going out of the parish, the fund would have upwards of $80 million dollars per annum.
Some time ago water was diverted from the Yallahs river to Kingston to beef up the KMR water supply without the consent of the people of St. Thomas. There are a series of steps which I am convinced can provide a complete answer to all the problems mentioned above. My suggestions are as follows:
Investigate the possibilities of building a dam in the upper reaches of the Yallahs River. This must be at the optimum point where the high speed run-off has ended.
Water collected at the dam should be used to supply Kingston and also the farmers in the Yallahs watershed, where it is needed.
As part of the Alternate Energy Research Programme a hydro-electric plant could be looked at which could sell it's energy to JPS.
Water piped to Kingston should be collected in its own catchment tank. Hence an additional catchment tank should be built. Proceeds from this water should be shared between the parish and NWC. That for the parish would go into the same infrastructural fund mentioned above.
It is my considered opinion that the Government needs to adopt a bold approach to problem solving, and ensure that the resources they use benefit the people who reside in the parish. This is a good political approach and builds goodwill with the people.
I am, etc.,
DEVON BLAKE
devonrb@hotmail.com
ICT and Development
Consultant
Morant Bay P.O.
St. Thomas
