- FILE
Passengers board a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus in downtown Kingston.
Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
A TOYOTA Hiace with a commercial licence plate number was the first vehicle to christen the toll gates at the Portmore leg of Highway 2000 yesterday morning.
The male driver, who was coming from the Corporate Area and heading into Portmore, drove through the toll gates about 9:37 a.m. sporting a toothy grin, as he sped off into the expanse of new road.
At about 9:53 a.m, licence number 5911 DX, another Toyota Hiace, was the maiden vehicle through the toll gates which are designated for vehicles heading from Portmore into the Corporate Area.
However, contrary to the toothy grin sported by her male counterpart, the female driver who christened the Portmore to Corporate Area toll gates was livid, as the timing of the opening of the toll gates caught her off guard.
"Upset! Pissed! I had to pay a $100 a while ago," she fumed "I never remembered, had I remembered I would not have driven here," she protested.
The female motorist, who resides in Mount Royal Estate, Portmore, told The Sunday Gleaner that she is numbered among the many residents who have pledged their support to a total boycott of the toll road until the Government reduces the toll to $30.
While scores of motorists lined up to use the toll gates, others were seen reversing and heading in the opposite direction in protest of the toll rates. The construction workers had to remove the barricades and make way for the motorists. Others were simply caught in the dragnet and just had to pay the toll to use the thoroughfare.
MOTORISTS DIVERTED
This happened because the toll gates were not opened until around 10 a.m., so motorists, thinking that they could still use the slip road and bypass the toll gates, were suddenly diverted to the toll plaza.
One stone-faced looking man told The Sunday Gleaner that he was caught between a rock and a hard place and was forced to use the toll road. "I live in Portmore, but I am late and that is why I am using it," explained the motorist, who was visibly upset.
Meantime, Yvonne Mc-Cormack, chairperson for the Portmore Citizens' Advisory Council was encouraged about the first day of the planned boycott.
"Well, I am very heartened. When I came on Mandela, there was a good amount of traffic so I take it to mean that people are using the alternate route," she said.
