Reflection is an activity that causes us to either make peace with circumstances or become frustrated at issues. Lately, for me, it was the latter. One such issue is that rural area communities do not get the help that they deserve in comparison to urban regions. It’s beyond saddening. I understand that “comparison is the thief of joy”, but in this case, the problem must be addressed expeditiously.
This has been my experience for numerous years living “behind God’s back”. In my community of Giblatore, St. Catherine, citizens have struggled to make do without the basic amenities of life for decades. It was only a few years ago that our roadways were fixed. Until this day, there is no water in our pipes. We depend on the standpipe in our area to serve scores of people. We also bless God for frequent rainfall. Maybe I will not see running water in my community in my lifetime.
I can recall in our teenage years; our household was blessed to have dial up internet connection via a flip phone. Overtime, as technology improved, we were able to explore other avenues to obtain internet service. The dongle was one. We were charged $40 for each MB of data used. This was incredibly damaging to our pockets. To add insult to injury, the service was poor. We would spend hours outside in the dark attempting to send off assignments before midnight. Fast forward to 2020, signal strength still drops in my room. What am I even paying for?
This is not the case in urban and suburban areas. Millions of dollars are spent on infrastructure for “town people”. Housing is provided. Roads and waters are provided. The schools get more attention. Maybe an institution like Aabuthnott Gallimore High would not receive any form of recognition if it were not for the talent of Romain Virgo. When a hurricane ravages the country, precious urban centres can return to normalcy in a matter of days. For rural areas, it can be a matter of months.
Granted, urban centers act as a hub for the running of any country. Attention will be placed on these sections because of economic and other social reasons. However, funds are wasted on shoddy workmanship, leaving no money to cater to other sections of the country which are just as important. Case in point, it seems as if Marcus Garvey Drive gets a makeover every few months after fifteen minutes of rainfall which damages the roadways.
COVID-19 has highlighted the disparity between rural and urban areas even more. The Government issued a work from home order in March 2020. However, what were rural citizens to do when the infrastructure is not available to do so? There is no WiFi for virtual company meetings. It was risking either your life or your livelihood for many. Now that the Ministry of Education has ordered that schools / classes be held online effective October 5, 2020, what will happen to the thousands of students who do not have the necessary devices to engage in quality learning? Isn’t it highly probable that they will be left behind?
Do not get me wrong, I appreciate our humble space. I love home. The fresh air and sunshine are incomparable. But, we pay taxes like everyone else. And still, every election, the same promises are given to rural area citizens. We are told roads and water will be provided. After all this time, where are they? Why is it that a sixty-year-old woman should go to a standpipe in the community to catch water for household use? Why should she walk a mile with a filled keg on her head? Better yet, why is it that the water from streams and rivers that goes to Kingston from our area cannot be in our pipes? Are Kingston and St. Andrew the embodiment of Jamaica? Are the rest of us so unworthy?
Rural areas are in dire need of attention. If we want to achieve Vision 2030, the needs of “country people” must be adequately addressed. If we are promoting “eat what we grow, and grow what we eat”, the concerns of small farmers must be taken into careful consideration. With banks encouraging online banking and education being hosted online for months to come, we need to realise that data service alone cannot sustain the masses. Bad roads are driving motorists into indebtedness because they need to fix their cars far too often.
More needs to be done for us. We can do so much and no more. Successive Governments should not be squeezing taxes out of us and not work on our behalf. In my mind, that equates to dishonesty. There is more to us than just agriculture. Opportunities need to be created for all Jamaicans, whether from Red Ground or Red Hills. We are citizens. We are human. We deserve better.
Photo by “Joel” Tucker (IG: @jo_media_)