Untold Stories of National Awardees | Homer calls for mutual respect
Published:Wednesday | August 22, 2018 | 12:00 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The man who wears the hat of managing director of Efficient Hardware and Haulage Equipment, and the official robe as mayor of the fastest-growing city in the region, Homer Davis, is being honoured on National Heroes Day.
Davis, chairman of the St James Municipal Corporation, shares the spotlight with 130 Jamaicans who will be recognised at King's House on Monday, October 15.
A son of Leinster, St Mary, he will be conferred with the Order of Distinction, Commander Class (CD) in acknowledgement of his outstanding contribution in the field of local governance and his role in serving the people of the Cambridge division as a councillor and as mayor of Montego Bay.
In an interview with The Gleaner, the former Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) detective sergeant, who spent 16 years policing, describes the recognition as a very humbling experience and promises that he will live up to the expectations that the award dictates.
"I accept the award in the name of the citizens of St James, but more so those from my own division, Cambridge. These citizens have been the wind beneath my wings and on whose shoulders I stand, tall, and proud," said the man who entered representational politics 20 years ago.
The OD, he says, comes at a time when he is working at repositioning the parish and its capital city to its glory days of peace and safety. Known as the '24-hour per day mayor' because of how accessible he is, Davis, at all times, refuses to blow his own trumpet, instead crediting the citizens of the parish in supporting the efforts of the security forces and his fellow councillors as contributing significantly to the feat of crime reduction.
MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
It comes as no surprise that his colleagues describe him as a man for all seasons, one who juggles his business with his busy schedule as an entrepreneur.
There is no question that it is his trajectory in the business sector that prepared him to take the reins of the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee and the General Council Meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation and also the position of deputy general secretary of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
He has also served, and continues to serve, on a number of civil boards and committees to include the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Rural Water Supplies Board, and the Coconut Industry Board.
Admired as a model citizen of good morals who is very conscientious, committed, and dependable, Davis said that he is hoping to oversee the complete transformation of St James and Montego Bay as part of his legacy as a political representative and as mayor of the city. He dares anyone to call his city 'Second City', rubbishing that connotation, and tells The Gleaner, his hope "is to see Jamaicans work in unison and that support each other irrespective of political belief, creed, or nationality. I want us to return to the stage where we respected each other".