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Five-day ultimatum for St Ann’s Bay mayor

Councillors urge Stewart to resign or face no-confidence vote

Published:Friday | July 15, 2022 | 12:09 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Mayor of St Ann’s Bay, Sydney Stewart.
Mayor of St Ann’s Bay, Sydney Stewart.

St Ann’s Bay Mayor Sydney Stewart has been given five days to resign or face a no-confidence motion that appears to be gaining support even from discontented members of his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) majority in the St Ann Municipal Corporation.

The JLP holds an 11-5 majority over the People’s National Party (PNP), but councillor for the Beecher Town Division, the PNP’s Ian Bell, who is leading the fight, is expressing confidence that the mayor will soon be out of office.

Bell had indicated that the motion would be tabled at Thursday’s meeting but said he was advised to afford the mayor the opportunity to resign.

“If the resignation is not tendered by the 19th [of July,] we’re going to be calling for a special sitting of the council, where we will be moving the no-confidence motion against him,” Bell told The Gleaner.

Amid the growing dissent, Stewart went on sick leave on Wednesday and will return to work next week.

Stewart took over as mayor in July 2020 after the resignation of then-mayor Michael Belnavis, who was felled by allegations of abuse of office, although he rejected claims of wrongdoing.

Current allegations against the Stewart-led corporation include a charge by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) that utility poles used by the corporation to install lights at the Buckfield playing field in Ocho Rios were stolen from the company and that the lights illegally connected.

Councillors reportedly became upset after it was revealed that Stewart was in dialogue with the JPS with a view to settling the matter by paying an amount not yet agreed to by both sides, even without the full knowledge of the corporation.

Signs that the mayor was losing the support of the JLP councillors became even more noticeable days after last month’s general council meeting when Exchange representative Ian Isaacs resigned as chairman of the Commercial Services Committee and as acting chair of the Human Resources Committee, citing dissatisfaction with the running of some affairs of the corporation.

Asked yesterday if he was ready to support the no-confidence motion, Isaacs referred The Gleaner to his resignation letter.

“I can say to you that my position about the whole situation is in black and white. That means that the mayor is in receipt of a letter, the CEO is in receipt of a letter also,” Isaacs said.

Up to press time, the corporation had not given The Gleaner a copy of the letter despite promising to do so.

carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com