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IF memory serves us right, it is the first in recent times that we have seen such a demonstration of a sense of purpose in the approach to the erection of the Bailey bridge at Harbour View, St Andrew.
Interestingly, this relative speed, rarely displayed on government-run projects, contrasts sharply with the anger and impatience of the people who have to travel east to west, using the previous bridge which was demolished by the raging storm-inspired waters of the Hope River.
The conclusion to be drawn, we suggest, is that people believe that to get anything done quickly by the state, they must put on as much pressure as possible. It is all about the credibility gap that exists between the people of Jamaica and their various governments.
We think that the way the information about when the bridge would be ready for use by commuters was communicated added to the problem. The transport minister, Mr Mike Henry, ended up at contretemps with the National Works Agency (NWA) spokesman, Mr Stephen Shaw, with the minister suggesting slothfulness on the part of the agency and in return the NWA insisting it was being careful about the safety of those who would use the bridge.
We hope that this will not be the work template for the transport ministry and the NWA in future projects, especially since the importance of the two is becoming even greater, based on the frequency of infrastructural destruction from flood rains.
Jamaica is still grappling with the damage from hurricanes Ivan, Dean, Gustav and is now faced with the possibility of more damage should Ike, Josephine or any other storm develop and come our way. That means that our entire approach to handling disasters must be reviewed and redesigned, not starting tomorrow, but today.
The crisis management approach does not work in times of disaster. We have seen as a mighty example, the scores of lives lost and the havoc wreaked in New Orleans and surrounding regions by Category 5 hurricane Katrina three years ago in the United States.
Also by contrast, we have seen the orderly managed approach in which hundreds of thousands of people were efficiently evacuated ahead of the arrival of Category 1 Gustav in the same region, this year, preventing the destruction of 2005.
When hurricane Gilbert hit us 20 years ago on September 12, 1988, the majority of Jamaicans alive had not before that experienced a hurricane. Since then, we have all become hurricane-weary. But the lesson is that we cannot any longer wait until a hurricane strikes before putting our plans in place. All of a sudden the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) has become a priority agency.
If adequate plans are in place, to be rolled out once the signal is given, we will not have to face a hurricane with such trepidation as we do now.
Furthermore, we will not have to witness the indignity of people paying others to carry them on their backs across an angry river, or the unseemly quarrel between a minister and one of his agencies that will only widen the credibility gap.
Except for the views expressed in the column above, the articles published on this page do not necessarily represent the views of the Jamaica Observer
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