Some residents lament that taxi operators refuse to travel on the road or charge extra to do so when transporting them home. This picture tells exactly why. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

WHAT'S NOT WORKING?

The roads at the back of the University of Technology (UTech) in the Papine area are badly eroded. Sadly, the roads in question are a must-use for some special people in society, who have to access a host of institutions designed for them in that area. Namely: McCam Child Development Centre; Jamaica National Children Home; Lister Mair Gilby Home for the Deaf; Lister Mair Gilby High School for the Deaf; Carberry Court Special School. Students and faculty of the Papine High School also use the roads plus it also provides a route to Hope Gardens, UTech and the surrounding communities of Highlight View, Mud Town and Land Lease.

SYNOPSIS OF THE SITUATION:

A dark mystery surrounds the name and ownership of the roads in question. Nobody seems to know who owns them or what are their names.

Mrs. Pauline Watson-Campbell, director of McCam Development Centre, an early childhood development institution for both disabled and able-bodied children, has been grappling with this question for the past decade.

"Who owns the road? That is a question that has been asked countless times and we still haven't been able to finger point who's responsible," she said. Though Mrs. Watson-Campbell was unable to say who was the owner or what were the names of the roads, she did say that the McCam institution had an Old Hope Road address.

For many residents, the hope of having the 'unnamed' and 'unclaimed' road fixed is quickly dissipating. "I don't know what dem waiting on to deal with the road, I've been here since 1994 and that is how the road has always been," said Marie Allen, a Mud Town resident for 12 years.

"Taximen don't even want to come here because dem say when dem shocks, front-end an thing mash up we can't help them. Most of dem charge extra, and even then dem not willing to travel the whole journey of the road."

Carlene Dyce, who has been working at Jamaica National Children's Home (JNCH) since 2000, argued that providing decent roads for an area hosting such an assemblage of critical childhood and educational institutions was the least that the 'unknown' authorities could do.

She noted that, on occasions of heavy rainfall, the children of the Home who attend the Carberry Court Special School across the street are unable to return to the home as they cannot cross the 'red sea' that is created in the craters on the road.

WHO'S RESPONSIBLE?

In an effort to ascertain the names and owner(s) of the roads, our news team contacted the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC), the National Works Agency, the National Water Commission (NWC) and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). However, like the beat, the quest to find the roads' dead-beat dad goes on.

WHAT'S THE STATUS?

Unclear and unknown! That seems to be the status. Delroy Hall, senior road and works officer at KSAC, said he knew the roads, but doubted that they belonged to the KSAC. He then stated that they were not KSAC roads, but roads that belonged to RADA.

Denton Alvaranga, RADA's deputy parish manager for St. Andrew then said: "RADA has absolutely nothing to do with any roads or the upkeep of any roads. That is generally the responsibility of KSAC or NWA."

CONCLUSION:

The roads must be fixed! That's the bottom line. If for no other reason, it must be done for the children of these institutions who have to travel on the roads. Ms. Dyce said there have been instances when taxi operators refuse to take her and children from the University Hospital of the West Indies when they hear the route they will have to travel.

Whoever is responsible, if you have a heart, we dare you to fix the roads. Prove that you care, that you are not among those who shy away from their responsibility (although you have done so for over a decade now).

Written by Marlon Vickerman, Gleaner Writer

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Tell us about problems in your community. We will visit and help to lobby for action. Write to: Tyrone Reid, the Gleaner Company Ltd., 7 North Street, P.O. Box 40, Kingston; Fax: 922-6223, Telephone: 922-3400 Ext. 6364 or Email:tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com.