The Effects Of Urbanization In Kingston

1- Traffic congestion – With the increased number of persons migrating to Kingston , there is an increase in the amount of traffic on the roads resulting in traffic congestion. This congestion is worse at peak hours – in the mornings and evenings. In Kingston , the current road network was not built to accommodate the large volume of traffic that it now handles and there is not much room for expansion of existing roads.

2 – Poor housing conditions – Due to the fact that some persons who migrate to Kingston are unskilled and are unemployed, they are forced to land (vacant lots) illegally.Very often houses made by squatters are built with inferior materials and lack basic amenities such as running water and electricity. These areas may eventually deteriorate in to slums , which are both unsightly and unhealthy to live in.

3 – Various forms of pollution

Noise pollution – resulting from the continuous flow of traffic , night time entertainment , construction work etc.

AIR POLLUTION – pollutants derived from exhaust of motor vehicles , dust from construction sites fumes from factories etc…..

Water pollution – Kingston harbour is heavily polluted. Sources of pollutants include:

Domestic waste  from gullies which empty into the Kingston harbour. A gully os a watercourse which has water , only when it rains , Kingston is drained by some 21 gullies , domestic garbage is dumped into these gullies when it is dry when it rains the garbage is washed into the sea where it pollutes  it.

Sewage. The sewage produced by Kingston is dumped in the harbour. this sewage is normally treated before it is dumped . however , due to the fact that the sewage treatment plants are unable to treat all the sewage produced by the increasing number of persons who live in Kingston the untreated sewage is being dumped in the harbour resulting in pollution of the water . This has resulted in the death of marine life such as fish . Fish die due to oxygen starvation , as the oxygen in the water is used up by the bacteria to break down the organic sewage waste.

Oil spills. Occasionally oil spils may occur in the harbour when oil is being delivered at petrojam oil refinery. When this happens, oil floats on the surface of the water blocking oxygen needed by fish and sunlight , which is needed for plants , on which fish feed, oil spills then result in death of marine life.

High levels of unemployment – Due to the rapidly growing population , there are not enough jobs available for everyone. Additionally, some migrants are unskilled and therefore can’t find jobs.

High levels of crime – The migration of unskilled and unemployed persons may contribute to high levels of crime. Often times parents have more children than they can afford to maintain. In some parts of Kingston for example at stop lights, it is not uncommon to find young boys doing odd jobs. They are forced to do theses jobs as a result of their poverty stricken situations when they should be in school and many times they end up joining gangs and perform criminal activities.

CONTRIBUTED

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