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Observer EDITORIAL: Start the Spanish Town to Linstead leg of Highway 2000 now
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The scene in the Bog Walk Gorge last weekend was nothing new.
The mess was graphically captured and presented in last Saturday's Daily Observer: "Fallen rocks and felled tree trunks scattered in the muddy, slushy street; battered reeds and road surfaces that were washed away by the dirty, brown water of the Rio Cobre that raged several feet higher than its normal levels. As it rushed by in the channel, the violent water lapped at the retaining walls - many parts of which had already been knocked out - spilling over and settling in a sunken section of the road."
The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), the report continued, confirmed that soldiers rescued a total of 54 people Thursday night, but had to call off the operation as a result of poor visibility caused by thick fog. Other victims, they said, were either helped by private citizens or made it out on their own.
The frantic cries for help from Ms Pearline Holder, a 63-year-old Jamaican visiting from London, who was among many people trapped in the gorge by flood waters last Thursday, were indeed frightening.
"I'm scared," Ms Holder told our reporter via cell phone. "We're just waiting on someone to come and help us. Right now I'm sitting in water. The water in the car had come all the way up to the seat.
"There are loads of cars and trucks and children screaming all over the place. There's no one coming to help us. Where we are, the water is coming down again. Nobody is coming to help us, this is not fair, this is not fair."
By 4:00 pm that day, a few vehicles had been washed away, Ms Holder told us.
While we can't begin to imagine the fear that gripped those people trapped in the gorge, what we find most unfortunate about this is that it has happened before.
In January last year, we had reason to comment on the suitability of the Bog Walk Gorge as the major route between Kingston and the north coast. At that time, the National Works Agency (NWA) had announced that the gorge would be closed between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm over four days while the Flat Bridge was being repaired.
At the time, we pointed out that an element of the problem was the inability of the NWA to prevent motorists from travelling that route during times of danger.
That aside, Thursday's incident again raises an issue on which we have been forced to comment so often that we feel the authorities really don't share our concern.
We speak of the preposterous reality that the heavily travelled link between Kingston and the north coast comes down to a single lane of traffic over the Flat Bridge, a low stone structure built by Spanish colonists in the 17th century, which runs across an often dangerous river.
It doesn't help either that the route through the gorge is equally dangerous - prone to landslides, falling rocks and flooding whenever it rains heavily.
We can't count the number of times that this road has been closed because of flooding or blockage from heavy rain. And the number of lives lost there demands that the Government places urgency on eliminating its use by the travelling public altogether.
We, therefore, propose that instead of awaiting the completion of the Mount Rosser bypass under the Spanish Town to Ocho Rios leg of Highway 2000, the Government and highway contractors, Bouygues Travaux Publics, seriously consider embarking on the Spanish Town to Linstead leg of the project now.
We don't want to lose anymore lives to the Rio Cobre and the gorge.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The scene in the Bog Walk Gorge last weekend was nothing new.
The mess was graphically captured and presented in last Saturday's Daily Observer: "Fallen rocks and felled tree trunks scattered in the muddy, slushy street; battered reeds and road surfaces that were washed away by the dirty, brown water of the Rio Cobre that raged several feet higher than its normal levels. As it rushed by in the channel, the violent water lapped at the retaining walls - many parts of which had already been knocked out - spilling over and settling in a sunken section of the road."
The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), the report continued, confirmed that soldiers rescued a total of 54 people Thursday night, but had to call off the operation as a result of poor visibility caused by thick fog. Other victims, they said, were either helped by private citizens or made it out on their own.
The frantic cries for help from Ms Pearline Holder, a 63-year-old Jamaican visiting from London, who was among many people trapped in the gorge by flood waters last Thursday, were indeed frightening.
"I'm scared," Ms Holder told our reporter via cell phone. "We're just waiting on someone to come and help us. Right now I'm sitting in water. The water in the car had come all the way up to the seat.
"There are loads of cars and trucks and children screaming all over the place. There's no one coming to help us. Where we are, the water is coming down again. Nobody is coming to help us, this is not fair, this is not fair."
By 4:00 pm that day, a few vehicles had been washed away, Ms Holder told us.
While we can't begin to imagine the fear that gripped those people trapped in the gorge, what we find most unfortunate about this is that it has happened before.
In January last year, we had reason to comment on the suitability of the Bog Walk Gorge as the major route between Kingston and the north coast. At that time, the National Works Agency (NWA) had announced that the gorge would be closed between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm over four days while the Flat Bridge was being repaired.
At the time, we pointed out that an element of the problem was the inability of the NWA to prevent motorists from travelling that route during times of danger.
That aside, Thursday's incident again raises an issue on which we have been forced to comment so often that we feel the authorities really don't share our concern.
We speak of the preposterous reality that the heavily travelled link between Kingston and the north coast comes down to a single lane of traffic over the Flat Bridge, a low stone structure built by Spanish colonists in the 17th century, which runs across an often dangerous river.
It doesn't help either that the route through the gorge is equally dangerous - prone to landslides, falling rocks and flooding whenever it rains heavily.
We can't count the number of times that this road has been closed because of flooding or blockage from heavy rain. And the number of lives lost there demands that the Government places urgency on eliminating its use by the travelling public altogether.
We, therefore, propose that instead of awaiting the completion of the Mount Rosser bypass under the Spanish Town to Ocho Rios leg of Highway 2000, the Government and highway contractors, Bouygues Travaux Publics, seriously consider embarking on the Spanish Town to Linstead leg of the project now.
We don't want to lose anymore lives to the Rio Cobre and the gorge.
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