Pic taken from the UTECH Campus
Friday, May 2, 2008
Update (08/05/02)
Still tryng to figure out this whole blogging bit. Trying to figure out the features and such.
The pictures so far, I took with my cell phone.
Hopefully I will find the time to do some research in future
Hopefully that desolate sole that stumbles on my blog will find it interesting reading and check back from time to time to see what mess has fallen out my head
The pictures so far, I took with my cell phone.
Hopefully I will find the time to do some research in future
Hopefully that desolate sole that stumbles on my blog will find it interesting reading and check back from time to time to see what mess has fallen out my head
Where's the Order
I find myself driving into the city each day for work, and I am always amazed at the seemingly lack of order
As I sat in the car driving through the mishmash of neighborhoods, the commercial districts, deteriorating older neighborhoods, innercity and some more affluent areas on my daily trek, the lack of order I observed got me thinking; is there some grand plan for the city (Kingston and St. Andrew) that I am not aware of.
I know of the plans for the redevelopment of the Downtown Kingston area but I was wondering if there was an overall development plan for the city. Private sector interests seem to be leading the whole process, with individual entities undertaking projects.
We find ourselves stuck in traffic morning noon and night trying to navigate the labyrinth that we call our road network to get from point A to point B and with the talk of progressing to first world status, we certainly need to have an organized capital city, where our citizens can efficiently move about,
It has always struck me as odd, the fact that there are lines of traffic leading out of Kingston and St Andrew to the bedroom communities in Portmore and surrounding Spanish Town, whilst the downtown waterfront areas and the neighborhoods leading off become desolate ghost towns at night.
People spend hours sitting in traffic each morning and night to get to and from what I call our bastardadized version of surburbia, where for more economic rather than idealised visions of living out in the country (as is the case with out North American neighbours), thousands of individuals working in the city have chosen to move to these tract style housing developments.
We need to seriously look at our housing practices, and instead of dreaming of that piece of the rock we ought to be as a people, especially those of us just starting out in the workforce thinking of owning or pad in the sky.
Instead of promoting the takeover of what is sometimes prime agricultural lands and converting them to meet housing demand, we should perhaps be looking at converting the acres and acres of lands below Half Way Tree that lead back to Downtown into mixed used types of developments, where people are able to live where they work. I certainly look forward to the day when I can own my city pad (penthouse perhaps) overlooking the harbour in Downtown, being able to walk to the various restaurant, entertainment offerings, office complexes etc.
This is a great opportunity to engage the brains of the many talented Jamaicans, who can begin to truly contribute to nation building. Engage the urban planners to map out, the architects and engineers who will lead the charge as we build up, the business community to invest, and the citizens to get engaged.
And with world prices going the way they are, we all stand to gain by being more efficient, productive and generally more content. I mean, waking up at 4:30 each morning to get to school and or work in the city isn't what i consider the "developed" way.
More anon
As I sat in the car driving through the mishmash of neighborhoods, the commercial districts, deteriorating older neighborhoods, innercity and some more affluent areas on my daily trek, the lack of order I observed got me thinking; is there some grand plan for the city (Kingston and St. Andrew) that I am not aware of.
I know of the plans for the redevelopment of the Downtown Kingston area but I was wondering if there was an overall development plan for the city. Private sector interests seem to be leading the whole process, with individual entities undertaking projects.
We find ourselves stuck in traffic morning noon and night trying to navigate the labyrinth that we call our road network to get from point A to point B and with the talk of progressing to first world status, we certainly need to have an organized capital city, where our citizens can efficiently move about,
It has always struck me as odd, the fact that there are lines of traffic leading out of Kingston and St Andrew to the bedroom communities in Portmore and surrounding Spanish Town, whilst the downtown waterfront areas and the neighborhoods leading off become desolate ghost towns at night.
People spend hours sitting in traffic each morning and night to get to and from what I call our bastardadized version of surburbia, where for more economic rather than idealised visions of living out in the country (as is the case with out North American neighbours), thousands of individuals working in the city have chosen to move to these tract style housing developments.
We need to seriously look at our housing practices, and instead of dreaming of that piece of the rock we ought to be as a people, especially those of us just starting out in the workforce thinking of owning or pad in the sky.
Instead of promoting the takeover of what is sometimes prime agricultural lands and converting them to meet housing demand, we should perhaps be looking at converting the acres and acres of lands below Half Way Tree that lead back to Downtown into mixed used types of developments, where people are able to live where they work. I certainly look forward to the day when I can own my city pad (penthouse perhaps) overlooking the harbour in Downtown, being able to walk to the various restaurant, entertainment offerings, office complexes etc.
This is a great opportunity to engage the brains of the many talented Jamaicans, who can begin to truly contribute to nation building. Engage the urban planners to map out, the architects and engineers who will lead the charge as we build up, the business community to invest, and the citizens to get engaged.
And with world prices going the way they are, we all stand to gain by being more efficient, productive and generally more content. I mean, waking up at 4:30 each morning to get to school and or work in the city isn't what i consider the "developed" way.
More anon
Its a New Day and The Early Birds are Up
(The birds are hidden in the bush, they've set up nest below my bedroom window)
Thursday, May 1, 2008
What a Mess, The Second Coming of The Spanish
Are we that poor?
We definitely need to look at the way we invite foreigners to invest on our island, and the inducements that we set ou before them to them to do so. The Spanish have definitely not had a very easy go at it.
Over the past few days it has been reported in the media, the failure of RIU, the Spanish hotel company developing that big pile over on Mahoe Bay in Montego Bay to comply with the building permit that was issued to them.
Let us not even begin to look at the hint of corruption that is beginning to emanate from this whole issue; or even the poor architectural choices that the Spanish developers seem to take when building their odes to bad taste, but this whole issue needs some clarification.
Common sense however dictates that planes don't fly into buildings and so buildings built into the direct flight path of the airport can only be so high and no more. The planning done within these areas are done within strict guides with adherence not an option to those entities building within these areas. In fact development, whereever done, should take place within the guidelines set out by the local planning authorities and not be pushed aside as a matter of economics.
With the situation that is now taking place at Mammee Bay, where the residents in the area, and more so the users of the beach club complaining about the apparent pollution of the Mammee Bay Beach area by the RIU hotel there, and the numerous other instances during the construction and subsequent operations of these hotels this second invasion has ruffled many many local feathers. And as the Spanish become more entrenched within the local business commmunity and particularly at the western end of the island; quietly replacing more and more long established local entities, we need to find that harmonious balance where the Spanish and their way of doing things can coexist with the way we do things (as backward as we may be at times).
Hopefully this whole issue and others that have risen and remain unresolved, and those that are yet to come to light can be resolved as amicably as possible.
One things for sure, the Spanish guys really need to step up the PR, because the antagonistic or brusque approach seems not to be working well with us.
Weblink:
www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/135132_RIU-Hotel-defiant
We definitely need to look at the way we invite foreigners to invest on our island, and the inducements that we set ou before them to them to do so. The Spanish have definitely not had a very easy go at it.
Over the past few days it has been reported in the media, the failure of RIU, the Spanish hotel company developing that big pile over on Mahoe Bay in Montego Bay to comply with the building permit that was issued to them.
Let us not even begin to look at the hint of corruption that is beginning to emanate from this whole issue; or even the poor architectural choices that the Spanish developers seem to take when building their odes to bad taste, but this whole issue needs some clarification.
Common sense however dictates that planes don't fly into buildings and so buildings built into the direct flight path of the airport can only be so high and no more. The planning done within these areas are done within strict guides with adherence not an option to those entities building within these areas. In fact development, whereever done, should take place within the guidelines set out by the local planning authorities and not be pushed aside as a matter of economics.
With the situation that is now taking place at Mammee Bay, where the residents in the area, and more so the users of the beach club complaining about the apparent pollution of the Mammee Bay Beach area by the RIU hotel there, and the numerous other instances during the construction and subsequent operations of these hotels this second invasion has ruffled many many local feathers. And as the Spanish become more entrenched within the local business commmunity and particularly at the western end of the island; quietly replacing more and more long established local entities, we need to find that harmonious balance where the Spanish and their way of doing things can coexist with the way we do things (as backward as we may be at times).
Hopefully this whole issue and others that have risen and remain unresolved, and those that are yet to come to light can be resolved as amicably as possible.
One things for sure, the Spanish guys really need to step up the PR, because the antagonistic or brusque approach seems not to be working well with us.
Weblink:
www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/135132_RIU-Hotel-defiant
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