Dear Editor,

Accidents are on the increase in Region 10, especially in Linden town. Users of our roads have become alienated from the five Cs of the traffic rules, which are care, courtesy, consideration, caution and commonsense. It seems anything and everything is accepted in our society today.

We drive unnecessarily fast in crowded places, for example, school areas, busy streets and hospital zones, as well as while transporting schoolchildren. We stop close to junctions to take in or put off passengers, and the list goes on. Policemen and women are on our roads but only in limited numbers, and are unable to bring an end to or reduce the recklessness of our road users. As citizens, it is our responsibility to end the madness which causes us so much pain and grief. The Ministry of Education needs to include road safety as a subject in all schools and this instruction must be continuous at all levels.

Another serious matter plaguing the Linden community is the poor disposal of garbage. We continue to witness persons throwing food boxes, plastic bottles, plastic bags and other unused materials through the windows of moving vehicles. From a once beautiful bauxite town, we  have reduced our standard to be compared to some of those country villages we once supported.

“Macchy” as it was called way back then, is now infested with  flies, mosquitoes, roaches, rats and garbage galore, and it seems as if there is no change in the hearts  of Lindeners. A change must come, however; we are the people who must make Linden a better place.

Yours faithfully,
B Winslow Parris