Joe Issa Expresses Condolences, Urges Caution on St. Ann’s Death Corridor

A crane removing the wreckage of the Toyota Hiace bus involved in the fatal crash along the Llandovery main road in St Ann this morning.

As people continue to lose their lives on the Ocho Rios to Browns Town main road in St. Ann, businessman and civic leader Joe Issa, has expressed condolences to the families of victims in the latest crash this morning while urging drivers to exercise caution when using that corridor.

“As inviting as that roadway is for speeding, one has to be careful because it’s a busy corridor and many drivers use it recklessly. I’m appealing to all of them who drive public and private passenger vehicles, motorcyclist, cyclists, and pedestrians to exercise caution when using the roadway.

“I’m urging drivers to stop the speeding as the road is heavily used and they can expect to have to slowdown or stop at anytime and the faster they drive the less reaction time they will have when called to do so, with the result being loss of life,” says Issa, a past president of the chamber of commerce in St. Ann where his Cool Group is located.

Issa was reacting to the fatal early-morning crash along the Llandovery main road in the parish in which five people are said to have died and several others injured including teachers and students. This roadway where the crash involving a Toyota Hiace bus and a Toyota Rav 4 occurred is between St. Ann’s Bay and Brown’s Town.

While expressing his condolences to the bereaved families Issa recalls in the interview, the wisdom of an elderly UK top traffic cop, who told participants at a seminar, “It doesn’t make sense killing yourself trying to get here only to find out that the seminar has not even started or has been rescheduled or cancelled…It’s better to arrive late and live to apologize rather than not arriving at all.”

Since the start of this year, Jamaica has recorded 82 road crash fatalities compared with 77 for the same period in 2015 and 64 the year before. Motorcyclists accounted for 32 compared with 20 last year for the same period. Pedestrians were next in line, accounting for 13 of the total fatalities, which was a reduction on the 19 recorded for the same period in 2015.

An article quoted Superintendent Cameron as saying that speeding was an “apparent” factor in this morning’s crash, adding that the bus which should have been carrying 12 passengers had approximately 15 people, including seven children.

“It appeared that it lost its drive shaft and some other mechanical part fell off resulting in the driver losing control colliding in a vehicle coming in the other direction… then the bus landed in the soft-shoulder,” Cameron is quoted as saying. “Speeding was an apparent factor…It’s not for a lack of the police presence on the road.”

Several people, including family members of victims in the crash, who gathered at the St Ann’s Bay Hospital are said to have spoken of the irresponsible conduct of drivers who ply the Brown’s Town route. In recent times Superintendent Cameron is known to have expressed concern about the recklessness of drivers plying the route.

JOE ISSA ELECTED TO HEAD OCHO RIOS CHAMBER

Senior vice president of SuperClubs, Joe Issa, is the new president of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce.He was elected unopposed at the 41^st annual general meeting of the Chamber at the Shaw Park Beach Hotel in Ocho Rios, St. Ann at the weekend.

He replaces businesswoman Jeanne Dixon, who did not seek re-election after three consecutive terms at the head of the organization.

In his acceptance speech, Issa thanked the members for the confidence they displayed in him and gave an assurance that he would work tirelessly to advance the interests of the parish.

The newly-elected president also stated that he was seeking clarification on the issue of cruise ship head taxes as it related to the ports of Ocho Rios and Montego Bay as news reports from different sources had quoted three different sets of figures.

He implored the authorities to treat the matter carefully to ensure that any concession given to Montego Bay was not done to the detriment of Ocho Rios.

Issa said that he was not opposed to a reduction in the head tax for Montego Bay but said that the economy would be best served by a reduction across the board in the anticipation of greater arrivals.

Ocho Rios businessmen, Dean Clarke, was elected 1st vice president and restaurateur, Eve Myers 2nd vice president, of the Chamber.

Portia to Address Chamber Banquet

The St. Ann Chamber of Commerce will stage it Annual Awards Banquet on July 15, at the Renaissance Jamaica Grande Hotel, beginning at 6:00 p.m. It is that time of the year when the Chamber takes time out to honor those in the community who have made a sterling contribution in their particular field of endeavor.

Those who will be singled out for the 2000 Awards are:

Corporate Award – Econergy Engineering Services Ltd.

Education Award – Norma Segree

Tourism Award – Frederick March

Citizens Award – Norma Jackson

Special guest speaker on this occasion will be Portia Simpson-Miller, Minister Of Tourism and Sport.

The awards have always been some of the better event of the Coast and, this year, this Gala Affair will feature a silent auction, gate prize of Airline Tickets courtesy of Air Jamaica as well as live music, a sumptuous meal and more.

Picture caption: FLASH BACK: Woodrow Mitchell, managing director of Walkerswood Foods, Ltd., says “Thank You” having received the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce 1999 Corporate Award, on behalf of his company. Occasion was last year’s Awards Banquet was held at Renaissance Jamaica Grande Hotel at which former mayor of Atlanta, Ambassador Andrew Young was guest speaker. Also in the photo are: Dean Clarke (left), first vice president St. Ann Chamber of Commerce and Joey Issa, then president of the Chamber.

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