Commentary

Beware road hazards

IN TRUE JAMAICAN fashion, there was a funny side to the very serious matter of Viviene Edwards falling into a manhole on East Queen Street, as reported in yesterday's STAR.

As was reported, Ms. Edwards said those who witnessed the incident told her "dem sey dem see me a walk and den dem no see mi again".

That brings to mind a very striking image of a person walking happily along and then simply disappearing.

It was certainly not funny, though, as she had to be rescued by passers-by and the cover hit her leg, bruising and swelling it.

And, those who saw the picture of Ms. Edwards' leg need not think that it was her weight that caused the mishap, as persons in the area also reported that just the day before, a little girl was among those who had fallen into the same manhole, which has a cracked cover.

It is a sad situation, which could have been even sadder, as Ms. Edwards could have suffered even more serious injuries. However, what is very worrying is that when she went to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) to get medical attention, it took hours for her to get five stitches for her wounds.

It can be argued that KPH, as a hospital which sees much more than its fair share of trauma cases, has much more urgent matters to deal with. However, it does seem to have been an inordinate amount of time to wait for a relatively small procedure.

The roads in Jamaica are, for motorists and pedestrians, hazardous, and getting attention - if you survive the hazards - is an excruciating process.

Just be very, very careful.