Heather Robinson
MANY YEARS ago, some time around 1989/90, I was among a group of persons discussing Spanish Town's high crime rate. We were all wondering what was the main factor that had contributed to such a high crime rate in not only Spanish Town and its environs, but also within the entire St. Catherine parish. Many views were offered, which varied from the social and economic problems and, of course, the culture of political dependency that had thrived there.
But by far the most important view offered at that time, was one offered by a former member of parliament and sitting councillor, in fact the Mayor of Spanish Town, Ferdie Neita. He believed that the lack of respect for lawful behaviour and the consequences of such behaviour had to do with the presence of three penal institutions within a 100 to 200-yard radius of each other. They were the St. Catherine District Prison, the Tamarind Farm Prison and the St. Jago Remand Centre for Women, which was once located in Rivoli, and later transferred to Fort Augusta.
PRISONS, INTEGRAL PART OF LIFE
Mr. Neita explained that he believed that prisons were such an integral part of life in Spanish Town, that being incarcerated there meant very little to wrongdoers, and that having been released, many persons who were not originally from Spanish Town chose to make it their permanent home upon their release. Over the years, Spanish Town has really developed a reputation of its own, with many persons refusing to visit the town for any good reason.
Spanish Town has many historical sites, with the main one being Emancipation Square, where the document proclaiming the abolition of slavery was read, as well as being the place where Paul Bogle marched to and from Morant Bay in 1865. The Old Kings House building's front faade still stands, along with the Old Assembly House and the Rodney Memorial. The remains of the old courthouse is also there. One would have hoped that this square, which holds so many answers to the past, and indeed our present, would be a place teachers would take children from all over Jamaica to visit. But teachers are nervous about taking children to tour this historic site, and we really can't blame them. However, recent changes to traffic in Spanish Town have forced motorists to drive through the old square and hastily admire these monuments of our past.
Last Saturday I was travelling along Washington Boulevard with my sister and five-year-old nephew when he asked where we were going. I told him Spanish Town and then to New Kingston. He thought for a while and then asked "Why can't there be a New Spanish Town, like how there is a New Kingston?" My sister and I were dumbstruck, and having found words first, I explained that one day there would indeed be a New Spanish Town. This five-year-old must have felt his own mother's fears when she drove through Spanish Town with him on previous occasions.
WAITING PATIENTLY
Motorists from all over Jamaica who have to travel through Spanish Town to get to or from Kingston are waiting patiently on the opening of the second leg of Highway 2000 which will really and truly bypass Spanish Town. No longer will they have to fear the sometimes one-hour trek through the town or be on the "bypass" itself. Some might well remember when Central Village was viewed with similar trepidation by motorists, who wouldn't even stop to change a flat tyre in that area.
Spanish Town needs to realise that in the same way there are thousands of Jamaicans who have not driven through Old Harbour since the opening of the first leg of Highway 2000, so too will these Jamaicans happily treat Spanish Town. Residents of Spanish Town owe it to themselves and to future generations to stop protecting those who have terrorised Jamaica into believing by their own evil and violent actions that Spanish Town is one big open prison that provides sanctuary for illegal and criminal actions. They must begin to work towards the building of a New Spanish Town, that can be accessed by five- and 50-year-olds alike, while sometimes choosing to travel on the good old roads of our ancestors.
Heather Robinson is a life underwriter and former member of parliament.
