Linton P. Gordon
The authorities are slowly but surely creating “Two (2) Ocho Rioses” in the town of Ocho Rios. They are creating an UPPER OCHO RIOS which is being kept at a certain standard and is primarily for the use, occupation and benefit of the locals/indig
enous people. And they are creating a LOWER OCHO RIOS which is being kept at a certain standard for the benefit of tourists and those connected to the tourism industry.Lower Ocho Rios stretches from Island Village going east along Main Street to the entrance of The Jamaica Grande Hotel. In this area there are lots of police officers and they are supported by a cadre of Courtesy Corp personnel all of whom are paid for by us taxpayers.There are no Courtesy Corp personnel above the entrance to the Jamaica Grande Hotel. From the entrance of Jamaica Grande to the market along Main Street and to the Police Station along Evelyn Street, this area is Upper Ocho Rios. There are no Courtesy Corp personnel in this area and there are fewer police officers on foot patrol. This area of Ocho Rios is being allowed to decline into a ghetto. The sidewalks are overtaken by itinerant vendors and mobile cooking carts. Garbage is thrown all about the place and at nights various persons operate car wash businesses, some of them within fifty (50) metres of the Ocho Rios Police Station.You dare not wash cars along the roadway day or night in Lower Ocho Rios. That area of the town is kept clean and is protected, all for the benefit of tourists. The locals in Upper Ocho Rios are obviously less important persons and so they are not given the same attention as those in Lower Ocho Rios are given.
The drains in Upper Ocho Rios are garbage filled, stink, dirty and ugly. Nobody in officialdom has time or resources for cleaning the drains in Upper Ocho Rios. A drain runs behind the police station. It constitutes a grave health risk to the citizens who work, live and do business in Upper Ocho Rios. The drains in Lower Ocho Rios are clean, lovely and often tourists are seen taking pictures of the fish and the birds in the main drain through which Turtle River runs. No one is taking any pictures of the drains in Upper Ocho Rios unless that person finds garbage to be attractive!There is no loud music being played in Lower Ocho Rios. There needs to be silence so that tourists walking about can hear oncoming vehicles and avoid accidents. Not so in Upper Ocho Rios. In Upper Ocho Rios nearly every business has a music set blearing out all sorts of inappropriate tunes noisily and in a way that makes it all but impossible for pedestrians to hear oncoming vehicles or even the horn of an oncoming vehicles.But then, maybe the authorities have decided that the lives of the people in Upper Ocho Rios are less valuable than those of the people in Lower Ocho Rios.Parking is allowed along parts of Main Street in Lower Ocho Rios. However in Upper Ocho Rios no parking is allowed along Evelyn Street even though that street is almost twice as wide as Main Street. Maybe the people who do business in Upper Ocho Rios are not expected to own motor vehicles.
PLANS FOR TOURISTS
The Government recently announced plans to further develop the road from the Ocho Rios Pier up unto Main Street and then going East along Main Street to the intersection with Milford Road. That area is in the heart of Lower Ocho Rios. Again there are no plans to develop and fix roads in the commercial area of Upper Ocho Rios. The Ocho Rios market continues to be an eye sore and an embarrassment. But it is in Upper Ocho Rios and so we should not be calling on the authorities to fix, organize and regulate the use of this market. The state of the market is consistent with the standards the Authorities expect to be in Upper Ocho Rios. It is to continue to deteriorate and maintain its status as a source of squalor because that’s how Upper Ocho Rios is supposed to look.We who are located in Upper Ocho Rios should keep quiet, be humble and make no complaint for we are children of a Lesser God. The children of the Greater God are located in Lower Ocho Rios. They are being given priority treatment and more is being spent to make them comfortable.Yes we are paying taxes but our taxes are being used for the benefit of Lower Ocho Rios. The people of Upper Ocho Rios are not counted. Maybe, just maybe, the people of Upper Ocho Rios never voted!
