WESTERN BUREAU:
The Trelawny Lay Magistrates Association (TLMA) has announced an ambitious plan to address the welfare of justices of the peace (JPs) in the parish, who have fallen on hard times because of ill health and financial challenges.
In an address earlier this week, Custos Hugh Gentles, who was the main speaker at an awards ceremony hosted by the Falmouth zone of the TLMA for 12 justices of the parish who gave a combined total of 320 years of service, said the welfare of JPs will be high on his agenda.
“A committee headed by the president of the lay magistrates association, Ken Grant, will establish a benevolent fund. This fund will be used to facilitate justices who may have fallen on hard times to live a respectable life,” said Gentles.
Gentles, who at his inauguration ceremony pledged to increase the number of justices of the peace in the parish, also issued a challenge to the present quota of JPs, which now stands at 240.
“No disrespect to you who have given over 30 years of voluntary service, but we have to look towards the future,” explained Gentles. “I challenge you to look into your intimate communities to find respectable young people to recommend them to give service as justices. We need young people from whom we can look forward to them giving 30 years of service to the parish and the country on the whole.”
For his part, Grant also praised the long-serving JPS for their years of devoted service, reciting a snippet of the well-known memory gem, ‘The heights of great men reached and kept… ‘
“A key word in this quote is ‘kept,’ said Grant. “The fact that you are being awarded is an indication that you have not only reached the great heights, but you have kept it. You have not brought it down and I congratulate you.”
The awardees included: Bruce Dale, Leon Spence, Millard Tracey, Geneive Leakey, Doreen Ho-Sue, Edna Thomas, Dennis Seiveright, Sylvia Jump, Gloria Veira, Edna James, Alex Henderson, and David Muschett.
Special mention was made for Leakey, who has given 42 years of service; and Edna James, who at age 94 years old, has given 30 years of service.