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Permit Park System Working in Mandeville

March 27, 2008

The Full Story

Secretary Manager at the Manchester Parish Council, Winston Palmer, has said that the permit park system, which was implemented in Mandeville some six months ago, has brought more order to the town.
Mr. Palmer said that the system, which operates from Ward Avenue to Manchester Road, was set up to address the problem of congestion, which inconvenienced pedestrians and restricted access to a number of businesses. “In Mandeville, we have over seven car parks provided for public passenger vehicles and yet at any time of the day one, would find a significant number of these vehicles parked in front of the businesses along the main thoroughfare in the town centre resulting sometimes in gridlock,” he said.
He said that the taxi operators were not the only contributors to the problem as “overtime, we have seen an explosion in terms of the number of vehicles in Manchester. We had to take some measures to alleviate the situation in the form of the permit parking system.”
The Secretary Manager explained that all the necessary regulations have been put in place to legitimize the system. “We have made sure that we have gazetted the areas designated for parking as well as the fees, the outlets where tickets, which cost $50 per hour, can be procured and have very visible signage,” he informed.
Mr. Palmer said that failure to comply will result in vehicles being clamped and the cost to remove the clamp is $2,500. The advantage of buying a ticket is that the motorist can spend about 10 minutes at one location and move to any number of permit locations during the life of that ticket.
Mayor of Mandeville, Councillor Brenda Ramsay, said that the new system was not meant to penalise law-abiding citizens.
“This is not a money making venture on the part of the MPC even though it has cost us quite a bit to set up the system. Our overall objective is to bring about more effective movement of traffic in all our townships. Mandeville was once reputed to be not just the cleanest but also the most orderly town in Jamaica and we have to regain this position as society can’t be just a free for all,” she said.
President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce (MCOC), Winston Lawson indicated his group is fully in support of the permit system.
“Our view is that there must be respect for the law in every sphere of life. If we continue to turn a blind eye to even the smallest of breaches, then we are creating the scenario for even more blatant violations to take place. Society has to be based on order and so we welcome and commend the MPC for this programme, which in some ways came out of the concerns raised by our members,” he said.

Last Updated: March 27, 2008

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