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A mournful final journey in the Rio Grande Valley
Last seven of 14 crash victims laid to restBY INGRID BROWN Senior staff reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The sound of heavy rain pelting the rustic roof of the Mill Bank Community Centre in the Rio Grande Valley, Portland on Sunday could not drown out the wailing of mourners, overcome with grief at seeing the seven caskets crammed tightly together along the wall on one side of the small building.
The caskets had the remains of Beverly 'Miss Little' Bernard-McDonald; Winston 'Tenna-Saw' Taylor; Carmen 'May May' Leslie; Leroy 'Teeth' Deans; Lasandra 'Sandra' Dyce; Althea 'Dimples' Anderson and 11-year-old Renaldo Palmer - the last seven of the 14 people killed on December 19 2008 when a market truck went over the edge of the treacherous roadway in the Rio Grande Valley.
This man took the job of warning motorists where ditches and potholes are located when rain flooded a section of the road leading to Mill bank, Portland Sunday. Several people who attended the funeral of the final seven of the 14 people killed in last month's market truck plunge were stranded along the flooded road.
Names were written on each casket so that mourners could quickly identify the ones that held the remains of their loved one.
For a number of residents it was by far the biggest event to have ever happened in the small rural community, yet all wished history did not have to be created this way, as the police escorted the hearses and officials.
Inside the packed community centre residents mumbled among themselves as they blamed the state of the road for the worst tragedy in their community.
Their discontent intensified when Member of Parliament for East Portland Donald Rhodd, in his remarks, said the past government was not solely to blame for the state of the road. (Rhodd is off his rockers, does he realize that this is a funeral & people are greiving, why turn it into a political diatribe - as an educated man, I certainly expected better from him.
)
People line the muddy road leading from the Mill Bank community Centre in Portland on Sunday to bid farewell to the last seven of 14 persons who perished on December 19, 2008 when a market truck went over the edge of the treacherous road in the Rio Grande Valley, also in that parish. Several people, overcome with grief, fainted along the way and had to be assisted by others, as was the case with this mourner. (Photos: Garfield Robinson)
"It is sad so many have sought to make political gain from this tragedy. Some blame the previous government but both parties must take responsibility," he said, amidst shouts of disapproval from the mourners.
Rhodd further questioned how many more lives would have to be lost before hearts are moved with compassion to address the situation.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding responded in his remarks that when something like this happened the first instinct is to find someone to blame and some would even want to blame God.
He said there were developmental issues which would have to be tackled, not only in the Rio Grande Valley, but rural communities across the island.
He said rural communities have lagged behind in development for many years as it is usually harder to justify funding for these programmes when assistance is received from multilateral agencies.
He said one has to justify spending a lot of money to fix 15 miles of roadway where only 6,000 people live, while in another a road covering a similar distance would benefit 250,000 people.
However, he said that despite the challenges, the Rio Grande Valley was one of the rural areas scheduled to receive assistance soon from Government. He said that Daryl Vaz, the state minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, was currently working to secure transport for farmers/vendors since the operator of the truck damaged in the accident was the only one willing to provide that service in that area.
Golding also announced that close to $5 million had already been collected in the fund set up to assist the dependants of people who died in the accident.
Meanwhile, Norman Grant, president of the Jamaica Agriculture Society (JAS), proposed that market trucks be replaced with buses so that farmers and vendors can travel in better conditions.
"The best memory is to ensure that as of December 19 we begin the journey to developing our rural communities so our farmers can produce in better conditions," the JAS head said.
Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller, in the meantime, urged residents to assist the bereaved, even saying that life was not measured by the years lived but the deeds done.
At the end of the three-hour- long service hundreds stood ankle deep in mud along the pothole-riddled roadway, to watch as a marching band led six of the seven hearses to the final resting place where the bodies were interred beside each other in a long rectangular grave divided into sections.
Regardless of where the blame lies for the cause of the accident, what was certain in the minds of Rio Grande Valley residents was that the problem still exists.
Mourners travelling in the Rio Grande Valley in the midst of torrential rains, got a first-hand experience of what residents have to endure on the treacherous stretch of road, broken away in several parts overhanging the river.
Within a short time sections of the road were completely submerged and only large vehicles could get through.
Drivers of cars were forced to park and wait indefinitely along the road as the police and youngsters from the community stood in waist-high water as they helped the brave to manoeuvre their way through.
Last seven of 14 crash victims laid to restBY INGRID BROWN Senior staff reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The sound of heavy rain pelting the rustic roof of the Mill Bank Community Centre in the Rio Grande Valley, Portland on Sunday could not drown out the wailing of mourners, overcome with grief at seeing the seven caskets crammed tightly together along the wall on one side of the small building.
The caskets had the remains of Beverly 'Miss Little' Bernard-McDonald; Winston 'Tenna-Saw' Taylor; Carmen 'May May' Leslie; Leroy 'Teeth' Deans; Lasandra 'Sandra' Dyce; Althea 'Dimples' Anderson and 11-year-old Renaldo Palmer - the last seven of the 14 people killed on December 19 2008 when a market truck went over the edge of the treacherous roadway in the Rio Grande Valley.
This man took the job of warning motorists where ditches and potholes are located when rain flooded a section of the road leading to Mill bank, Portland Sunday. Several people who attended the funeral of the final seven of the 14 people killed in last month's market truck plunge were stranded along the flooded road. Names were written on each casket so that mourners could quickly identify the ones that held the remains of their loved one.
For a number of residents it was by far the biggest event to have ever happened in the small rural community, yet all wished history did not have to be created this way, as the police escorted the hearses and officials.
Inside the packed community centre residents mumbled among themselves as they blamed the state of the road for the worst tragedy in their community.
Their discontent intensified when Member of Parliament for East Portland Donald Rhodd, in his remarks, said the past government was not solely to blame for the state of the road. (Rhodd is off his rockers, does he realize that this is a funeral & people are greiving, why turn it into a political diatribe - as an educated man, I certainly expected better from him.
)People line the muddy road leading from the Mill Bank community Centre in Portland on Sunday to bid farewell to the last seven of 14 persons who perished on December 19, 2008 when a market truck went over the edge of the treacherous road in the Rio Grande Valley, also in that parish. Several people, overcome with grief, fainted along the way and had to be assisted by others, as was the case with this mourner. (Photos: Garfield Robinson) "It is sad so many have sought to make political gain from this tragedy. Some blame the previous government but both parties must take responsibility," he said, amidst shouts of disapproval from the mourners.
Rhodd further questioned how many more lives would have to be lost before hearts are moved with compassion to address the situation.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding responded in his remarks that when something like this happened the first instinct is to find someone to blame and some would even want to blame God.
He said there were developmental issues which would have to be tackled, not only in the Rio Grande Valley, but rural communities across the island.
He said rural communities have lagged behind in development for many years as it is usually harder to justify funding for these programmes when assistance is received from multilateral agencies.
He said one has to justify spending a lot of money to fix 15 miles of roadway where only 6,000 people live, while in another a road covering a similar distance would benefit 250,000 people.
However, he said that despite the challenges, the Rio Grande Valley was one of the rural areas scheduled to receive assistance soon from Government. He said that Daryl Vaz, the state minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, was currently working to secure transport for farmers/vendors since the operator of the truck damaged in the accident was the only one willing to provide that service in that area.
Golding also announced that close to $5 million had already been collected in the fund set up to assist the dependants of people who died in the accident.
Meanwhile, Norman Grant, president of the Jamaica Agriculture Society (JAS), proposed that market trucks be replaced with buses so that farmers and vendors can travel in better conditions.
"The best memory is to ensure that as of December 19 we begin the journey to developing our rural communities so our farmers can produce in better conditions," the JAS head said.
Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller, in the meantime, urged residents to assist the bereaved, even saying that life was not measured by the years lived but the deeds done.
At the end of the three-hour- long service hundreds stood ankle deep in mud along the pothole-riddled roadway, to watch as a marching band led six of the seven hearses to the final resting place where the bodies were interred beside each other in a long rectangular grave divided into sections.
Regardless of where the blame lies for the cause of the accident, what was certain in the minds of Rio Grande Valley residents was that the problem still exists.
Mourners travelling in the Rio Grande Valley in the midst of torrential rains, got a first-hand experience of what residents have to endure on the treacherous stretch of road, broken away in several parts overhanging the river.
Within a short time sections of the road were completely submerged and only large vehicles could get through.
Drivers of cars were forced to park and wait indefinitely along the road as the police and youngsters from the community stood in waist-high water as they helped the brave to manoeuvre their way through.