THE EDITOR, Sir:OVER THE years, we Jamaicans have sat by powerlessly and absorbed the news that even more lives have been lost at Flat Bridge in Bog Walk, St. Catherine. On December 30, 2004, it was reported that nine vehicles were washed away there.
No one is suggesting closing Flat Bridge, but why has no one, particularly the government, done anything of note about the problem?
If the water rises to a certain level, for instance to the point that one can barely discern the bridge from lapping water, shouldn't the entire road be closed?
There is no way that a motorist should be even at the bridge, let alone attempt a suicidal crossing.
Over time, more than 100 individuals have lost their lives in this area. The life of a human being defies any set price, so the loss of lives represents an incalculable loss to our country.
Think for a minute on what some of the lost children could have grown up to contribute.
Then, there is the cost of the vehicles and equipment lost. By now this figure must be astronomical - many, many millions of dollars.
Would it not be safer and cheaper in the long run to put in place an effective system that monitors the rainfall and, more importantly, monitors the rising of the Rio Cobre waters, and the closing the road and bridge when a particular danger level is swiftly approaching?
How possibly complicated can such a seemingly simple system be? Wouldn't paying five or six trained and professional individuals to fulfill this duty, and putting in place a method of properly closing off the road, make better sense than simply watching impotently as the death rate rises?
t is past time we took effective steps. Lives are at stake. Come on, Jamaica, it's 2005. Let us make it the year of preserving Jamaican lives.
I am, etc.,
C. P. ROMAN,
President, Caribbean African Unity
