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IN THE past year or so Trafalgar Road and Knutsford Boulevard have begun to look better and cleaner - especially Trafalgar Road. The gentrification and greening of Trafalgar Road was spearheaded by NCB when they put in really fine landscaping around their head office, placed elegant plants and palms in the dividing island of the road before the bank's head office and then secured the permission of the KSAC and other authorities to make a green park next to their ATM kiosk and parking lot.
A few months ago LoJ followed the bank's example with their well-designed and very attractive statue park right across the street from NCB's park. All that stretch of road from the British embassy to Ruthven Road is now a very agreeable public statement and place to drive.
UPTOWN BIG AND RICH - CLEAN UP!
The tenants on Knutsford Boulevard, one of our main business thoroughfares in the capital city, need to quicken their pace at following NCB and LoJ. Except for the areas around the hotels, the street is still generally too dirty for the wealth it represents.
A continuing eyesore and waste of money is the dirty water that streams constantly to the crossing of Knutsford Boulevard and Trinidad Terrace - a crossing that has to be fixed every few weeks or months because of the erosion caused by the water let out from the businesses on the left hand side of the boulevard going south. It certainly cannot be beyond our engineering abilities to find a solution that will keep the dirty water off the street and then fix the road in such a manner that it is not dug up with irritating and very costly regularity. The big corporations and very wealthy individuals who own the businesses on this left portion of the street need to implement a permanent solution to this problem.
But that is not the only eyesore on the street. The businesses on the street need to take a lot more care in ensuring that the sidewalks and street sides by their stores and places of business are kept clean. Early in the morning when there is no vehicular or people traffic on the street the sidewalks are still dirty from the constant and intense nocturnal traffic at the clubs and restaurants on the street.
This visible trash is in spite of the new, sturdy and expensive trash receptacles put in by corporate sponsors. I believe the business owners need to take much more responsibility for keeping their sidewalks and street clean. This problem exists to a lesser or greater extent (often greater) at many 'uptown' business centres.
DOWNTOWN DISAPPOINTMENT
The excellent Indian novelist, Rohinton Mistry, in his acclaimed novel - A Fine Balance - writes of a big Indian city by the sea (Mumbai?) and tells a vivid but fascinating tale about what happens on the streets from the airport into the city, and griminess of life in the run-down sections of his imaginary city. Parts of downtown Kingston often remind me of that narrative.
The exception to the grime and dirt of downtown is that lovely oasis by the sea side - the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) property. The streets by the BoJ are always clean, the lawns are very well kept and the parking lot is orderly and clean. The charm and cleanliness that is part and parcel of the BoJ property is in stark contradistinction to most everything else around it.
Many business houses in the downtown area have stopped bothering about their sidewalks and the surroundings of their buildings. In fairness, not all have given up. Myers, Fletcher and Gordon and others have continued to maintain their buildings and street sides with an appreciable attractiveness. However, some big institutions which can afford to maintain their buildings let even the paint strip off their large edifices without taking immediate corrective action. That kind of inattention and omission only adds to the eyesore that is so pervasive across our capital city by business houses and executives who should know and do better.
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES ARE ALSO GUILTY
The many offices of important and powerful government agencies are generally as guilty as the business houses for not taking care of the property around them and in which they reside. I find it amazing that so many powerful government officials are oblivious to the surroundings in which they conduct their business. Their sidewalks often need cleaning, the buildings which they occupy need face lifts and their parking areas and other grounds go unkempt for long periods of time. The first response is generally that there is not enough money to do these things. A resolute and civic-minded manager or government official can achieve a great deal in terms of the upkeep of their office property once they put their minds to it. We need to move away from excuses to positive action in terms of keeping our city clean, more liveable, and beautiful.
Aubyn Hill is managing partner of Corporate Strategies Limited, a restructuring and financial advisory firm.
Respond to: writerhill@gmail.com
Source: Jamaica
Gleaner
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