- NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Irate residents of Portmore, St. Catherine vent their dissatisfaction about the construction of the Portmore leg of Highway 2000 at a meeting with Transport and Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill, at the Portmore HEART Academy in March this year.
Howard Campbell1, Gleaner writer
THE VERDICT is in for phase one of the Portmore citizens versus Government construction of a toll road connecting Kingston to that community, but some residents of the St. Catherine housing development are adamant that the fight is far from over.
On Tuesday, Justice Gloria Smith overruled a case by the Portmore Citizens' Advisory Council (PCAC) that said Transport and Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill, had acted illegally in (1) Declaring the proposed six-lane stretch a toll road and (2) Naming the Mandela Highway an alternative non-paying route.
The Causeway bridge which connects Kingston to Portmore will be demolished once the new bridge is completed. Mr. Pickersgill expects this to take place in 2006.
The PCAC has had several heated clashes with Mr. Pickersgill during the last year and it is not known whether they plan to appeal Justice Smith's ruling. Another coalition, the Portmore Joint Citizens' Association, has a similar case to be heard by the Supreme Court early next week.
When The Sunday Gleaner visited sections of Portmore Friday, some persons were still seething over Justice Smith's stance. Others said they had no problem with the new bridge but were concerned that they would pay a hefty toll fee.
BRACING FOR THE TOLL
Lloyd Leachman and his wife live in Edgewater, one of the oldest housing schemes in Portmore. They see the new bridge as a progressive move but are bracing for the price of the toll which Government says may be as high as $60.
"As long as the rate is reasonable and affordable, I don't have a problem with it," said Mrs. Leachman. "But you've got to remember that there are people going into town two, three times, a day. We in Portmore should have a reduced rate or something that we don't have to pay every time," she added.
Another Edgewater resident, who chose not to give his name, said the Government's approach is heavy handed.
"I don't see why when each time I come out of my house and go to work or anywhere, I have to pay ... It can't be fair," said the man who works in Kingston. "I don't know the amount that we are going to pay but I know this Government. They start a thing and say $60 but as soon as two months pass, it gone up to $200."
In nearby Bridgeview, another man who declined to give his name, was just as scathing.
"They should keep the causeway because the alternative is no good," he stated.
"I tried it one morning to go into town ... if I travel the causeway it takes me 45 minutes but it took me an hour and a half to reach when I used the Mandela."
COSTS WILL BE TOO HIGH
He pointed out that he commuted to Kingston several times per day either on business or to take his child to school. "It's going to cost me a whole heap of money."
Over in Passagefort, Winston Frazier and Dwight are both involved in the delivery business which sees them trekking to Kingston regularly.
"Wi need a new road still, yuh nuh, but it a go affect me 'cause mi mek all four trip a day go Kingston," said Dwight, a stocky twenty-something who has lived in Portmore for 10 years. "But if dem set it at a price wey good wi can deal wid it."
Mr. Frazier, who looked to be in his mid-50s, sang the same tune.
"It's a good move but I don't respect what dem doing and disband the old road. We must have an alternative if we can't pay the toll," said the 20-year Portmore resident. "If dem have a toll, it mus' be a minimum wey most a wi can afford."
The new Portmore bridge is the latest leg of Government's 240-kilometre Highway 2000 project. The Mandela Highway and Sandy Bay in Clarendon have already been completed.
