What would be your Pothole of the Year? I would be happy to hear some of your nominations. My husband has started naming some of our most familiar ones: “That is Winston… Here comes Damion…”
I am sharing a friend’s hilarious blog post here – a humorous take on the drama surrounding the sudden and alarming growth in potholes in both rural and urban Jamaica. In the hills and on smaller roads, landslides and “breakaways” (i.e. a partial collapse of a road) are happening almost daily. Rural folks are suffering more than anyone. In the town, we constantly complain about the appearance of these potholes, which began since “The Rains” began, back in September or so. They have grown large, wider, and deeper, ever since.
Jamaicans are bitter about it, and angry. Car mechanics are probably quite happy, being overwhelmed with work – as are gardeners, as the rampant jungle that is our yard testifies. Plus, in Kingston it is still raining every day. The National Works Agency (NWA), a government agency, is complaining that it can’t fix the roads in the rain.
My friend mentions several atrocities in the downtown area, but perhaps he has not seen the horrors of uptown. Every evening I hear cars crashing into several potholes that adorn our stretch of the road, and wince as I think of their suspension, and their tyres, and their front ends (not sure what a front end is, but it is mentioned a lot). As I said, there are plenty of hot contenders for the Pothole of the Year award this year.
The fury of uptowners on radio talk shows has stirred our Prime Minister to action. And he has, perhaps, over-reacted, by declaring the state of our roads a National Emergency. Oh, my! He also signed some contracts with China Harbour Engineering Company for the long-awaited SPARK road repair programme, which will be delivered in “packages.” SPARK stands for Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network. Yes, our trusty public servants worked hard on that acronym!
Well, general elections are due by September, 2025. So, action must be seen to be taken, before the people rise up!
Thanks so much for this witty take on the matter, Conliffe!








Photography by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

You must be logged in to post a comment.