With few hands, communities press on with Labour Day projects

Undaunted by a low turnout, a small group of residents of New Haven, St Andrew, spent Labour Day tackling a bothersome drain which has made it difficult to traverse Columbus and New Haven drives.

Speaking with The Gleaner as men used a jackhammer to drill into the asphalt, Tanya Wheeler-Taifatt disclosed that efforts to repair the roadway and the installation of a drain under the surface in the flood-prone community had resulted in another problem.

“They did the road, but they don't do it as a level as you can see; the road is getting worse. We're having a problem with the drain right here. So, any vehicle go over is either the bumper tear off or the fender,” she explained.

She said community members raised it with Councillor Michelle Thomas-Nelson and Member of Parliament Anthony Hylton, notifying them that they wanted to undertake the rehab work for Labour Day.

“If you have an emergency, taxi don't want to take this road,” she lamented. “I mean, it's very hard digging, but we're getting there, and we're going to lay the pipes, and then we cast it. We have steel, we have the pipes and the cement and stuff; so we can have a better drain so people, vehicle, can able to go over smoothly and come over smoothly,” Wheeler-Taifatt said.

As Gleaner teams moved through sections of St Catherine, Kingston and St Andrew, it was evident that the spirit of volunteerism seen on past Labour Days was not as robust.

More people were seen in nearby bars than assisting with community projects.

Wheeler-Taifatt also bemoaned the declining community spirit.

“Most of the people decide that Labour Day, some of them want pay, [but] Labour Day is volunteer community-work programme. So, each one come out and chip in. But, we still have to do what we have to do, whether some come or some don't come, that's how it goes. … It's all about helping your country, helping your community to see a better community,” Wheeler-Taifatt argued.

Over at the Portmore Fire Station in Waterford, St Catherine, district officers Shermaine Weir and Paula Tennant, as well as Lance Corporal Shameka Johnson, were among firefighters painting the perimeter wall and constructing a gazebo.

“The gazebo is just for rest and relaxation of firefighters, specifically firefighters who operate in the emergency communication centre,” Weir, who has been a firefighter for 20 years, told The Gleaner.

Johnson, who has been in the service for 13 years, said she was giving sweat equity to the project so that her colleagues can have a space to relax after facing horrors daily on the job.

“So we're here also to build our wellness area, to help us to relax a little bit after the high-stress calls that we receive. So we're just here to uplift and brighten up, and to make ourselves a little bit more comfortable while we're at work,” Johnson added.

She said calls concerning children or the elderly trapped by fire can be particularly heartbreaking.

“Being a mother myself, especially when it comes on to children, it puts you in that place that this could be my child. Every child out there, I consider them my child. So those types of calls, for me, are more hurtful - when persons who are not able to help themselves as much are in those type of situations,” said Weir.

The Gleaner noted that only a small group of volunteers, including three members from the St Elizabeth Division, was on hand, and 30-year veteran Tennant confirmed the number was a small cry from the approximately 17 staffers on each of the four shifts daily.

But she acknowledged that the job is extremely stressful and some people struggled to give up a rest day; however, others were making the huge sacrifice.

Superintendent Dennis Lyon, who has been divisional commander for St Catherine since 2022, said in addition to running into fires, the men and women he leads also respond to other traumatic situations, including brutal murders and deadly motor vehicle crashes.

He said the gazebo is part of the attention given to the mental health of the first responders.

“The job is a very tough one. The staff, I can tell you, if you notice there is an ambulance here. So we have EMTs (emergency medical technicians) here, and I can tell you, when they come back from some calls, you can just see the pain on their faces. Once these major calls are completed, we invite the chaplain in, and from the other day, I've been having several groups  – the drug awareness, everybody –  coming to talk with them because it is terrible, it is a tough job,” the 36-year Jamaica Fire Brigade veteran noted.

Next door, at the Waterford Police Station, officers braved the blazing sun to give the building and fading pedestrian crossing facelifts.

The Labour Day theme, which stressed community focus, was taken on by Jamaica Defence Force soldiers, who shed their military stance in several areas, including conducting remedial work at the All Saints Church Infant School in western Kingston and restoring faded kerb walls in communities such as Braeton in St Catherine.

karen.madden@gleanerjm.com