A man walks past a manhole in the sidewalk on the west side of St. William Grant park in downtown Kingston. - norman grindley

As a part of our mission to be the People's Paper, THE STAR has been highlighting problem areas across the island. Our reporter, Carolyn Johnson, along with photographer Norman Grindley will focus on a particular area until the problem is fixed. Now we will have a rough idea of how long the relevant authorities take to deal with some of the problems affecting our country.

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to our capital city, Kingston. This week, we head downtown and our first attraction is the St. William Grant park, built in 1819 and named after the 1938 labour leader, William Grant. But watch your step because the open manholes that surround the park may eat you alive.

There are at least two of them and both are potential dangers to pedestrians.

The park is in the centre of a very busy, commercial area and there are bus stops to the left and right of the park. The traffic through the park is usually very heavy and so, several pedestrians are at risk of getting hurt.

While the authorities are considering refurbishing downtown, we ask that they remember these manholes before an innocent walk through the park ends badly for someone, especially with the visitors now here for CWC 2007.

Still waiting

In the meantime, we haven't forgotten about the broken traffic light at the intersection of Industrial Terrace and Spanish Town roads.

We are still waiting, though getting impatient, for the parts that have been ordered to fix this problem.