JAMAICA | Senator Janice Allen Calls for Proper City planning to reduce congestion in Montego Bay

MONTEGO BAY,  Jamaica May 13, 2022 - Opposition spokesperson on tourism Senator Janice Allen says if Montego Bay is to live up to its desired 2030 vision, plans for the further expansion of the city must become the priority of the local government authorities.

Addressing the opening of the long awaited Montego Bay fire station this afternoon, Senator allen, while welcoming the new fire station, said the reality is that the work of the dedicated men and women of the fire services is dependent on a well-laid out and well planned city, not only for today’s needs but for the next decade and beyond.

Senator Allen who was representing Opposition Leader Mark Golding, expressed concern that “with the congestion that plagues the city because of the thousands who have to come into Montego Bay each day, the work of emergency services is severely hampered and this shows the urgent need to find immediate solutions to the issue of traffic and traffic management in the city.”

Senator Allen who hails from Montego Bay, has called on the Ministry of Local Government and the City management to revisit the reconfiguration of the city’s thoroughfares to provide for emergency lanes to facilitate fire, police and EMT vehicles which now get caught in Montego Bay’s  much dreaded traffic congestion.

She said Montego Bay and surrounding communities have expanded significantly and it was time to look at the development of a multimodal transport centre for the city. In addition, she said, “there is a need for focused attention on urban planning and cohesive work between all the planning agencies.” 

“We are also hopeful that with the reopening of this fire station, the Local Government Minister has taken into consideration the acquisition of fire units that will handle not only high-rise buildings, but also respond to fires at sea,” Senator Allen said.

“This demands an additional fire boat with a pumping capacity befitting a city the likes of Montego Bay, and which can also respond to the nearby towns of Falmouth and Lucea, a concern that has been expressed by the business sector, tourism interests and civil society for many years,” she pointed out.

Senator Allen noted that with the fragmentation of the Cornwall Regional Hospital, Its emergency services have been unable to effectively respond to emergencies as the  EMT/ambulance service has also suffered a similar fate. 

“It is our hope that the Fire services will add several ambulances to its EMT service in Montego Bay to bolster our dismal emergency response times.

“If we are to properly serve the more than 400-thousand citizens of Montego Bay and surrounding communities, we must have more than two ambulances in the public service,” the PNP Senator declared.

“I use this opportunity today to commend our firefighters for responding to the call of duty and for continuing to put their lives at risk to save the lives of others. I know it is a difficult task and not having the proper equipment and infrastructure to carry out your duties makes it even more difficult.”

“I am happy that Montego Bay will be receiving new state of the art facilities and I hope to see many more projects of this nature being carried out across the island, as we work towards re-igniting our nation for greatness through the development of essential services and infrastructure,” Senator Allen pointed out.

The last Montego Bay development plan which guided the development of the city, was the Greater Montego Bay Redevelopment Plan 2015, which was spearheaded by the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and included the then St. James parish Council and other members of Civil Society. The plan was partially financed by the United States Agency for International Development, USAID.

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