Adrian Frater, News Editor
Irate taxi operators explaining their plight to a policeman during a protest in the Green Pond area of Montego Bay, yesterday. - CONTRIBUTED
WESTERN BUREAU:
RESIDENTS OF the neighbouring communities of Cornwall Courts and Green Pond, St. James, woke up yesterday morning to find the access roads leading in and out of their communities completely blocked by irate taxi operators.
The taxi drivers were protesting the deplorable state of the roads in those areas.
"These roads are a nightmare to motorists and something must be done about them," said taxi operator Orlando Crawford. "We are not only concerned about front-end parts, we are also concerned about the safety of ourselves and our passengers, because the slow pace at which we are forced to travel makes us easy prey for robbers."
MAJOR OBSTRUCTION
The blocking of the road created major inconveniences for residents in both communities, as scores of students and teachers, who reside outside the area, were forced to walk several miles to get to schools such as the Green Pond High school. In the meantime, residents from the communities had to walk to adjoining communities to access transport to their various places of business.
"What is happening to us is an insult, because we are paying our taxes but not getting any benefit from it," said Cornwall Courts resident Marlene Gray, who came out in solidarity with the taxi operators. "I plan to join in on all the protests that are staged to highlight this grave concern."
Despite the presence of a large contingent of police personnel in the communities, the militant taxi operators kept up their protest action for most of the morning, taking their protest from street to street in a bid to defy the police attempts to create free access for other motorists.
The deplorable state of the roads in and out of Green Pond and Cornwall Courts has been a highly contentious issue for many years, as the roads are pitted with potholes, a problem which is exacerbated during periods of heavy rainfall.
Member of Parliament for the area, Clive Mullings, donated several truckloads of marl to effect emergency repairs to the roads following a similar demonstration three months ago.
