The Orwellian maxim that “all men are created equal but some are created more equal than others” seems to have become the watchwords of the National Works Agency and the Police force in Jamaica. This, as the authorities have unilaterally decided to route the road march from the Carnival celebrations slated for Sunday, March 30, 2008, through the residential community of Seymour Lands. This has proven to be particularly irksome to the residents living on or in close proximity to Upper Musgrave Avenue, Argyle Road and Musgrave Avenue as it was mutually agreed from 2006 with the Jamaica Constabulary Force that the celebrants would continue their activities along the Lady Musgrave Road (main road) which would lengthen their journey by only a few metres and avoid disturbing the residential areas. In fact, the agreed route of 2006 was followed in 2007 with nary a peep from residents.
The decision of the authorities to allow for this particular march route now places the revelers and the attendant mind numbing sounds, in very close proximity to two homes for the aged, a number of multi-storey apartment and townhouse complexes as well as several single family dwellings. Aside from this being a flagrant breach of the Noise Abatement Act, the fact that it has actually received state approval with absolutely no reference to the citizenry remains baffling and smacks of autocracy. This is likely to be compounded by hundreds of revelers and vehicles traversing Argyle Road, which is already in an advanced state of disrepair, where the surface is largely non-existent and the road has already collapsed on a few occasions. Further the attendant and totally predictable dust nuisance from that source should surely have been a cause for concern. Indeed it is instructive note that Hopefield Avenue, Upper Musgrave Avenue, Argyle Road and Musgrave Avenue have all collapsed several times in the recent past, given poor rehabilitation works, after the laying of sewer mains and are likely to undergo their greatest test on Sunday. This has already led to a public apology from the National Water Commission and raises a question about the degree of effective communication between the State agencies.
However, this issue really highlights the difficulties that residents of the Seymour Lands (Golden Triangle), Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston are routinely faced with. Lack of effective consultation, arbitrary governance and myopic urban planning can safely characterize the experiences of the listed communities and rubbishes the claims regarding the so-called processes of consultation. Further, cognizance must be taken of the fact, that these are the same areas that the Government of Jamaica is seemingly working assiduously to commercialize and convert into urban ghettos and it’s the private developers who have been rescuing the communities from the clutches of opportunistic governance.
The decision of the authorities to allow for this particular march route now places the revelers and the attendant mind numbing sounds, in very close proximity to two homes for the aged, a number of multi-storey apartment and townhouse complexes as well as several single family dwellings. Aside from this being a flagrant breach of the Noise Abatement Act, the fact that it has actually received state approval with absolutely no reference to the citizenry remains baffling and smacks of autocracy. This is likely to be compounded by hundreds of revelers and vehicles traversing Argyle Road, which is already in an advanced state of disrepair, where the surface is largely non-existent and the road has already collapsed on a few occasions. Further the attendant and totally predictable dust nuisance from that source should surely have been a cause for concern. Indeed it is instructive note that Hopefield Avenue, Upper Musgrave Avenue, Argyle Road and Musgrave Avenue have all collapsed several times in the recent past, given poor rehabilitation works, after the laying of sewer mains and are likely to undergo their greatest test on Sunday. This has already led to a public apology from the National Water Commission and raises a question about the degree of effective communication between the State agencies.
However, this issue really highlights the difficulties that residents of the Seymour Lands (Golden Triangle), Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston are routinely faced with. Lack of effective consultation, arbitrary governance and myopic urban planning can safely characterize the experiences of the listed communities and rubbishes the claims regarding the so-called processes of consultation. Further, cognizance must be taken of the fact, that these are the same areas that the Government of Jamaica is seemingly working assiduously to commercialize and convert into urban ghettos and it’s the private developers who have been rescuing the communities from the clutches of opportunistic governance.
Update
Subsequent to the publication of this article, there was a last-minute change of route to bypass the residential communities in Seymour Lands, confining the road march activities to the main roads as obtained in previous years.
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2 comments:
I live in New Kingston and from early this morning (Saturday) i have been unable to sleep because of some Carnival celebration that apparently starts at about 3am. I am so sick of these people imposing their desires on me as if my rights are only a useful discussion point when its election time
For years the march has passed the Andrews Memorial Hospital where sick and dying persons lay in bed.
Did they always cut the sound until they have passed?
From the inception?
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