Hanover communities anxious for revival of PDC
Published:Tuesday | January 5, 2021 | 12:16 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
A number of community development committees (CDCs) in Hanover have been stumped by the postponement of a meeting to revive the dormant Hanover Parish Development Committee (PDC) without explanation.
The meeting, which is being organised by the Hanover branch of the Social Development Commission (SDC), was set for January 12 and has been moved to February 23. It will see the election of a new executive body for the PDC.
CDC volunteers told The Gleaner that they are concerned as their efforts to get an explanation from the SDC leadership within the parish have not yielded fruit.
When our news team contacted the acting parish manager of the Hanover SDC, Tova Anderson, she was guarded in her comments.
“There are still some in-house things that we need to sort out,” she said without giving details. “We are currently in the planning phase, and you will be duly advised once plans have been finalised.”
She directed The Gleaner to the SDC’s director of governance, whose phone rang without answer.
The Hanover communities are anxious for a revival of the PDC, which held its last annual general meeting in June 2019. At that time, 25 of the 30 active CDCs within the parish participated and elected a six-member executive headed by businessman Dwayne Clayton as president. Educator Fania Davis was elected vice-president; Judett Brown, secretary; Petra Foster, assistant secretary; Sergeant Edmond Cowan, treasurer; and Navardo Forrester, public relations officer.
The officers were elected to a two-year term, but the PDC started to fall apart within four months when Clayton resigned to enter representational politics. This triggered a scramble to replace him as the vice-president, Davis, claimed that she was not getting the required support from the SDC and others and refused to take up the position as president.
Shortly after, the general secretary also resigned without explanation.
Since then, it has been all downhill for the Hanover PDC, resulting in the CDCs carrying out their projects without any active leadership at the parish level and with little guidance from the SDC.