A view of some of the studio units at Providence Heights. - Adrian Frater Photo WESTERN BUREAU:
RAILWAY GARDENS consists of Railway Lane, Barnett Lane, River Bay Road, Lightbody Avenue, Fish Lane, Dean's Lane, Barnett Lane, Catherine Lane and Coombs Lane.
It is sandwiched on one side by the old train tracks of the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC) and by the commercial centre of Barnett Street on the other.
The community is widely regarded as an environmental hazard, characterised by drains blocked with raw sewage and garbage. The community falls directly into the drain collection basin of the city and as a result experiences immense flooding during the rainy periods. Most houses can be described as dilapidated shacks.
When the Government conducted a survey of the area in 1999, approximately 320 families were said to be living in the community. The population has grown moderately since.
In 1999, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announced the Relocation 2000 programme, which promised to relocate the residents to new houses at Cornwall Courts by September 2000. The location was later changed to Providence Heights, after the residents of the National Housing Trust (NHT)-financed Cornwall Courts Housing Scheme rejected the inner-city residents as their neighbours.
As they waited for the relocation, which has been postponed at least five times, the residents of Railway Gardens have protested on several occasions, demanding that something be done to correct the unsanitary conditions in their community.
Construction of the houses at Providence Heights finally began in January last year.
