Disgusted with JUTC's Route 600

Erica Vrtue, Kingston

I waited 51 minutes October 3, 2012 to get a bus for Route 600.

It was not the first time that I have waited one hour or more for a bus for the said route. After waiting 41 minutes, I approached the dispatcher who was upstairs at the 2B and 2C layby.

Me: Miss, are you the dispatcher?

She: (hesitantly) Yes.

Me: Can you tell me when the next 600 bus will be available?

She: Mi caan tell yuh nutting bout 600 bus. A 500 and 75 mi a werk!

Me: (Counted to five million in one second before asking) Is there anyone who can tell me about the 600 bus?

She: Si 500 bus deh.

Her tone caused anger to crawl up my spine. I looked closely at her and concluded that I just encountered a really small-brained homo sapien with false hair.

I phoned Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin and explained what had just taken place.

He apologised and asked someone to speak with me. I relayed the occurrence and told him that I knew the crowd was crude and rude, but so were JUTC employees.

However, the ensuing explanation left me hopping mad.

The driver had gone to training and was late in coming back!

This was the information relayed to Lewin from JUTC's operatives on the ground. However, if I hadn't asked about the bus, the driver could have taken as long as he cared to come back, and no explanation to the public? Isn't this insane?

So 51 minutes afterwards, a bus is ready to roll. I entered with my Smart Card with a balance of $810. It had been purchased a couple of weeks ago.

The bus came up with a defective card machine!

Me: So what am I supposed to do since all my bus fare is on the card?

Him: Go to the ticket office and get a ticket!

Me: Call de police, 'cause mi naah cum out and mi nah get nuh ticket! (My tone was not as nasty as the dispatcher's, but it was close - and final.)

Him: A nuh my route. A help mi a help out a situation and hear how yuh a gwaan!

I sat down, refusing to get a ticket and waiting to see if anyone, from anywhere, would just blow a gentle breeze over me. It didn't happen.

One of the employees saw what was happening, took my card, purchased a ticket and returned it to me.

The bus could not accept any passengers with cards on the way downtown.

If the route is unprofitable - and I believe it is - cut it off. But as long as it continues to run, people will continue to wait - and wait for hours.

To Mr McCalla who spoke with me and the employee who purchased the ticket with my card, thank you. No thanks to the dispatcher I first encountered. She should be cleaning walls in solitary confinement.

Can you imagine everyone waiting 50 minutes to and from work to get a bus? No wonder there are so many wasted work hours in this country.

Shoddy pothole patching on Maxfield Avenue

lona Isaacs

I must express my disgust at the prevailing bad road conditions in Jamaica.

Just last month, there was a gaping pothole on Maxfield Avenue (below the intersection with Lyndhurst Road). I called the National Works Agency (NWA), and to my relief, the road was fixed a few days later.

Imagine my surprise when I travelled on the same road on Monday, only to be confronted by not one, but two gaping potholes, one on each side of the road. The same pothole that was fixed last month opened up again after Sunday night's rain.

Does anyone supervise these people who claim to fix our roads? It's a total waste of our tax dollars to turn around and fix a road which was fixed a month ago. What is really happening here?

I am so disgusted because this has become a recurring situation. Who is to be held accountable?

And by the way, why can't the road surface be smoothed out after potholes are filled? Why is there always a mound which creates a bumpy ride?

Come on! We need better service.

lonaisaacs@yahoo.com

Maxfield Park Health Centre needs adult dental cleaning machine

Sophia Smith Braeton, Portmore

I am writing this letter in a state of shock and disbelief. It has been almost two years, if I am not mistaken, that the Maxfield Park Health Centre has been without a dental-cleaning machine. The name of the machine is Cavitron.

There is only a machine for cleaning children's teeth, but there is none for adult cleaning. Come on now! In this day and age not everyone can afford private dental cleaning. This health centre is the only one in this area.

Also, it is in need of more administrative staff who are well trained in customer service as the ones there behave as if the patients are obligated to them, are ill-mannered and slow.

Health Minister Fenton Ferguson, I beg you, sir, please do something!

cute1badgirl@yahoo.com

Seeking to ease traffic congestion in Stony Hill Square

Derrick D. Simon

An open letter to Everton Hunter, chief executive officer the National Works Agency.

We, the Golden Spring Citizens' Association, have written repeatedly on traffic congestion in Stony Hill Square, St Andrew, requesting itemised costs for the project as outlined in blueprint drawings done by the NWA's Planning Department under the leadership of Mr Stephen Shaw.

We further wish to thank you for identifying with the worthy cause regarding our joint citizens' undertaking to implement this project in order to alleviate the burdensome congestion in the town square of Stony Hill, west rural St Andrew.

Kindly expedite the matter so that together we may move to the next stage.

Fear of gully breakaway behind Dames Road

S. Power Kingston

The erosion of the gully located behind the premises of 8 Dames Road, Kingston 5, poses an imminent threat to life and property. You can reach Dames Road after coming from Connolley Avenue, then on to Arnold Road. If you ask anyone at 8 Dames Road, they will show you. You can also locate it when coming off South Camp Road.

There are a lot of houses near this gully. The water in the gully is stagnant, which facilitates the breeding of a lot of mosquitoes, a matter about which persons complain every day. The water is stagnant because the gully bed concrete is broken. Because of this, the water does not run off, and it is getting worse.

When we had the rains last week, another section broke away again. This is cause for great concern as we know that the water can make the earth very soft, increasing the possibility of further breakaways of columns, and ultimately, the collapse of houses.

We don't want our situation to approach the crisis proportions of erosion and danger that are currently affecting Sandy Gully or Kintyre.

This gully has been in a state of disrepair for about four years now. I am sure the newly elected MP, Julian Robinson, is aware of it, but nothing has been done.

Motorists have a hard time making it to Carnation Way

Michael Wong Mona, St Andrew

'Where is St Andrew Eastern MP André Hylton?' asks constituent and pothole victim Michael Wong.

The road condition on Carnation Way has deteriorated over the years, and no patchwork has been done to reduce the cost of motor vehicle front-end repairs. With each bout of heavy rainfall, these potholes become deeper and wider.

Before the recent general election, half of the Mona community was resurfaced, and we had hoped that the other half would have been resurfaced, or, at the very least, patched.

But with the election having passed some nine months ago, we have not seen our member of parliament or been able to make contact with him to find out what will be done to address our problem.

I suspect we will see that our road will be patched when the next election comes around.

Even though all motorists pay an additional tax towards the repairs of our roads with each litre of gas purchased, these funds are being used for other purposes.

When will all this sleight of hand stop and Government instead use our taxes for their intended purposes?

michael.wong@cwjamaica.com

Tell us about the positives and negatives affecting your community, school or any other social space. Email submissions to letters@gleanerjm.com.