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First-time MP spearheads clean-up project in Lucea

Published:Wednesday | December 16, 2020 | 12:17 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
Councillor for the Lucea division in the Hanover Municipal Corporation, Easton Edwards (left), and volunteer Marvia Brown  play their part in beautifying a curb wall along the main streetin  Lucea on Sunday, as part of a clean-up and beautification project
Councillor for the Lucea division in the Hanover Municipal Corporation, Easton Edwards (left), and volunteer Marvia Brown play their part in beautifying a curb wall along the main streetin Lucea on Sunday, as part of a clean-up and beautification project being implemented across Western Hanover by first-time Member of Parliament Tamika Davis.
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WESTERN BUREAU:

Tamika Davis, the newly installed member of parliament (MP) for Hanover Western, made her presence felt among her constituents on Sunday when she spearheaded a clean-up and beautification drive which spanned several communities in and around Lucea in Hanover.

In the effort, which was supported by several volunteers, sidewalks were painted, drains cleaned, verges bushed, potholes patched and garbage properly packaged, among other activities, as Davis and the volunteers toiled between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

“It has always been said that the town of Lucea needs cleaning, so today is dubbed ‘Town of Lucea Beautification Day’,” said Davis, who created a stunning upset in the September 3 general election when she, on a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ticket, handily defeated three-term MP Ian Hayles, the People’s National Party representative. “It is one of the first ventures that we (the Western Hanover JLP executive) have decided to have.”

In explaining the initiative, Davis said that the support of members of the private sector was sought as ultimately, they too would benefit from the general facelift in the communities.

“What we decided to do was, with the collaboration of our major stakeholders, supermarkets and various agencies, we decided to have a clean-up day, and that is exactly what we are doing,” said Davis. “We are painting, sweeping, cleaning drains, de-bushing, fixing potholes, making sure that the town looks good for the Christmas period and beyond.”

Davis said that in the lead-up to executing the project that had no ties to the Hanover Municipal Corporation’s Christmas work programme, the owners of businesses and other stakeholders across the parish were approached for donations in cash or kind towards the clean-up project. She said she was overwhelmed with the level of support that she received.

“You will notice that you do not see anyone in any particular colour, because we are all here representing the parish. We all want to see a clean town, and we have put down our party colours and are working together as ‘Hanovarians’ to make the town clean,” said Davis.

Buoyed by the success of the project, Davis said it will not be a one-off event, as other projects will be identified and work done, as the ultimate aim is to maintain a high standard of cleanliness in the constituency.

The MP used the opportunity to impress upon the residents in Western Hanover to follow all the health protocols put in place to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, arguing that persons have allowed complacency to creep into Hanover, which was the last parish to have a positive case of the deadly virus.

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