A Bahamian traffic light tale

Sidney Sweeting, DDS

I recently learned first hand the reason for the reference to "The Misery of Public Works"

For the first eight months of 2010 the traffic lights at Village Road and Shirley Street have been off more than they have been on. About two weeks ago I decided to call the Ministry of Public Works. Someone did answer the phone and I asked for the traffic light division. The gentleman who answered the phone said that he was frustrated with that intersection also because he lives in the East, but he did not have the authority to do anything about it, that I would have to speak to his supervisor who had not yet arrived - it was only 9:30 am.

When I finally got her on the phone she informed me that she did not have the authority either and transferred me to another department. The secretary there said that department was not responsible and referred me to another department. (stay with me it gets better) . The secretary in the third department said that I would have to speak with Miss X (the first lady who started me on the phone tour).

For some reason she got the impression that I was upset and tried to console me with the information that at one time we did not have traffic lights and I reminded her that there was a time when we did not have cars either. Her final advice to me was not to get upset but that I should pray about it. I did not know if she meant for me to pray that they would finally do their job but I did assure her that when motorists arrive at these intersections a lot of prayers are being offered.

The following week I placed a call to the office of the Minister and told his secretary of my get-aquainted session of the Ministry. The Minister was not in but she assured me that he would call me back. He did and he apologized for the frustrating day I had during my phone tour of his Ministry.

The next morning the lights were working. That evening they were off again. Since then they have been on for very brief periods and they are now off again

Maybe we should do as the lady said and we should have a day of prayer for the Ministry of Works