Transport Centre Opened in Darliston

Residents of Darliston, Westmoreland can now go about their business in a more organized manner, with the recent construction of a transport centre to serve the area.
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, Member of Parliament for Eastern Westmoreland, officially opened the facility on Friday (Dec.16), which was built at a cost of some $6.6 million, with the majority of the funding coming from the Ministry of Water and Housing under its Urban/Rural Renewal Programme, and the Westmoreland Parish Council.
In his remarks, Mr. Patterson expressed the view that one of the signs of progress in Jamaica was the extent to which the island’s transportation sector had been transformed.
He said that Jamaica had 25 per cent more roads than any country of its comparative income level anywhere in the world, adding that it was his belief that the country had more cars per kilometre than any other country in the Caribbean.
He noted that the construction of the Darliston transport centre was another step in the process to improve the quality of rural life. “It is my belief that whether you come from country or come from the city, whether you live in an urban centre or you live in rural Jamaica, you are entitled to the best of the basic amenities, which must include roads, water, housing, electricity, good transportation and that entails a good transportation centre in our most populous areas”, he stated.
The Prime Minister noted that the facility had been built with due concern for the natural environment and charged users to protect the investment and make it an area where law and order could prevail, and people could meet with due respect and care for each other.
Minister of Water and Housing, Donald Buchanan, in his address at the ceremony, also urged the residents to take care of the centre, so that future generations could benefit from the facility.
Mayor of Savanna-la-mar, Delford Morgan, in bringing greetings, called for similar transport facilities to be built in the Whitehouse and Bethel Town areas of Eastern Westmoreland.