From Greenspace to Concrete, Progress and Prosperity Yard Style

I always loved the Waterloo Roundabout and I started loving it more and more as the area around it became more and more developed. It was always lovely to come down or up Waterloo Road and see it because it represented a break from the congestion of the houses, townhouse and businesses. A nice open greenspace to remind me that Kingston and St. Andrew, is a green city. My only problem with the space inside the Waterloo Roundabout was that it was not turned into a lovely forested garden full of wild life. A nature reserve pleasing to the eye and general natural health.

Growing up, the ground inside the Waterloo Roundabout was No-Mans-Land, since we were told that the site was an old Cholera burial ground and if we disturb the ground it would be hell on earth, so I feared it and I loved it. However, it was almost never overgrown, and the grass kept low. After breaking through the development and congestion of the Waterloo road corridors it was always a welcome sight for me. With some imagination that space could have been a wonderful greenspace in an already congested city.

What our Government and people lack is imagination and what they have a lot of is a genetic predisposition for hating the environment and greenspace because they do not see it as progress. To them concrete is progress and they will not stop until every square inch of this land is covered in concrete. The Prime Minister have already declared that he wanted his legacy to be “The Builder” but what he really is, is a builder void of all imagination and a dunce to the concept of sustainability which is a lethal combination. The man is a one-man wrecking crew and a walking disaster if we do not keep him in check. All he does is chat rubbish about recreating the Miami and New York skyline because to him progress is one size fits all.

The Prime Minister believes that “If we build it, they will come” but I have seen enough empty, overgrown Gate Community compounds to know that, that is not true. This shortsightedness is not limited to this Prime Minister or his party because when it comes to this concept of development, the current Government cannot hold a candle to the opposition and the people.

So, now what was once the Waterloo Roundabout, containing a lovely open greenspace, that was once the 1860 Cholera burial ground, has been renamed Waterloo Square with a hideous building, containing a Starbuck, Pharmacy and among other things. The conversion from Greenspace to Concrete is complete and in so doing, another Jamaican concept of progress and prosperity implemented.

The Barbican Roundabout, aka the Barbican Circle was purchased by the Loshusan family, the undisputed Jamaican kings of Florida style strip malls. The Loshusans also owns the commercial complex across the street from the Barbican Circle known as Barbican Centre with Loshusan supermarket.

The Loshusan family wanted to merge the two property by buying the roadway that separates them. By now you know my position on his, I love a nice green-space to break up the congestion. The area around Barbican has been the centre for Kingston 6, over development with gated communities and Townhouses littering the landscape and as much as I love the new road way, in my opinion it is not pedestrian friendly.

The development of the Barbican Circle will make a bad situation worse but as a society, we know the price of everything and the true value of nothing. I remember when a bunch of Rich kids put forward a plan to open a 10-million go-kart track and amusement park in the Barbican Circle. The good thing is, the KSAC then announced the refusal of the project, which had received staunch objection from residents of the St Andrew community where the track and entertainment centre would have been erected. However, I think those Rich kids just did not have the financial power and connection of The Loshusan family. It is inevitable, Barbican Circle will be converted into concrete and everyone will see it as development, progress and prosperity.

The St James Municipal Corporation is pressing ahead with plans to bulldoze cemetery along Jimmy Cliff Boulevard in the western resort city of Montego Bay and turn it into a parking lot. The move is aimed at giving the Hip Strip a new lease on life and increase the capacity to accommodate traffic in the dense St James capital which is host to a plethora of hotels and other tourism business.

Even the dead is under attack!