Commentary

Creative transportation

'TUN YU HAN' an mek fashion' is a Jamaican saying made popular by Louise 'Miss Lou' Bennett, but in some parts of rural Jamaica, the residents are turning their creative minds to solving transportation problems.

As THE WEEKEND STAR reports today, in one rural Trelawny community, golf carts have been put to good use far away from the rolling greens and sand traps. They are being used not to transport portly businessmen out for a swing at a deal, but to carry people who otherwise would have had to swing their 'bag and pan' all the way up and down some rocky roads.

Of course, the golf carts are not licensed to be on the public road, especially as hired transportation. But neither are those potholes interspersed with asphalt that often pass as roads licensed to be under motor vehicles.

Whether because of bad roads or simply the unavailability of vehicles, many times, Jamaican are forced to find ways to meet their transportation needs that bend - or outright break - the letter of the law. This ranges from the overcrowding of the few vehicles that are available on a particular route to using vehicles that are not designated for the purpose of public transportation. This newspaper has reported previously about motorcycles being used as taxis in a particular section of Hanover - a practice that would not be out of place in the congested streets of Kingston's commercial districts.

After that story, the police felt moved to take action against those motorcycle taxi operators, a possibility that also arises in this instance. We recognise that there are legal issues involved, but we also realise that necessity is the mother of fraternal twins adaption and invention.

In the absence of proper road maintenance and the provision of adequate public transportation, the creative public transportation solutions will always be with us.