Point Hill reels from tragic crash claiming community stalwart Omar Francis
Published:Tuesday | June 14, 2022 | 12:12 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
Residents of several communities in the Point Hill division in St Catherine were left stunned yesterday by news that councillor hopeful Omar Francis had died in a motor vehicle accident.
Francis, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caretaker for the division, died in a single-vehicle accident early Monday morning after the Toyota RAV4 he was driving crashed into a concrete culvert along the Byles main road in Kitson Town while returning home after a day of meetings with residents.
“It is a gloomy day for the communities of Mendez, Watermount, Reynolds and other surrounding communities that Omar started to represent, and he was not even the councillor as yet,” Nordia Rhoden, a bar worker in Point Hill, said as she summed up the atmosphere.
“He was a promising person who looks out for the community. He really represents the people. We were really looking forward to working with him ... . It really put a damper on Point Hill,” she added.
Karlene Thomas-Laing, principal of Watermount Primary School, was also deeply saddened, noting that Francis’ death was a tremendous loss for the school and the community.
“I am really overwhelmed because as I speak, today Mr Francis, myself, and another member of the community should be meeting to discuss plans for a project we have coming up in September,” she told The Gleaner, adding that he was one of the main sponsors of the school’s Labour Day project a few weeks ago.
“It’s going take some time for us to heal because of the impact. It is not going to be an overnight thing but with God we are going to move on,” said Thomas-Laing.
Principal of the Point Hill Primary and Junior High School, Shernette Powell, said it was a great tragedy.
“We have teachers who are crying. I can barely pull myself together. It was just two weeks ago that we came together in our quality education circle to launch the mental health programme at Paul Mountain. Just two weeks after this to hear about his death is really depressing, especially for me,” Powell said, noting that other staff members, including the bursar, who were good friends of Francis, were also shaken.
Watermount Community Development Committee (CDC) President Carlos McCloud described Francis, a former Generation 2000 vice president and close aide to St Catherine West Central Member of Parliament Dr Christopher Tufton, as a true community man.
“[This] is a great loss to us. I don’t see him as a politician, but as a community person, a man who has the community at heart,” McCloud said, noting Francis’ support for community-based organisations.
He said that Francis would often attend CDC meetings and events with updates on community projects, such as roads, water and the recently constructed bridge. He also had great plans for the community, including establishing a skills training centre for the youth.
The impact on Damian Watson was telling. He sat for several hours at a store front in Point Hill trying to process the tragedy.
“Right now, the news mek mi nuh go work today. Mi sit here all morning sad. Mi nuh really deal in politics, but Omar a good youth. Him was a community man,” he told The Gleaner.
Francis had been selected by the JLP to contest the Point Hill Division in the upcoming polls. The division has been without a councillor since the death of Wesley Suckoo in December 2019.