All-female Hanover parish development committee executive installed

WESTERN BUREAU

Retired educator, former dean of discipline and now community social worker, Christine Hooper-Johnson, is the new president of the Hanover Parish Development Committee (PDC) for the next two years.

This follows the staging of the bi-annual general meeting of that organisation on Wednesday, June 28.

Hooper-Johnson leads an all-female executive team at present, with two executive posts still unfilled, that of vice president for parish relations, and assistant secretary. The members of the team who were installed, along with Hooper-Johnson are vice president for youth relations, Aliyah Hutchinson; secretary, Nicola Maxwell; treasurer, Dacia Cunningham, and public relations officer, Angela Crooks.

The decision was taken at the meeting to notify the community development committees (CDCs) across the parish about the two unfilled posts on the executive by July 3, and allow another two weeks from then for recommendations and nominations to be submitted, following which an election will be held.

RICH HISTORY

Hooper-Johnson vied for the post in the 2021 election, but lost then to the now outgoing president, Petra Vernon-Foster.

“I know it will not be an easy task to lead this organisation, but I love challenges, and pledge to work assiduously with the executive team to move this organisation forward for the betterment of Hanover,” she assured in her acceptance speech.

“For too long we (the people of Hanover) have been suffering and seem to be behind time, and it is now time for the parish of Hanover to be a parish that does things, where the other parishes will want to emulate us in what we are doing,” she emphasised.

She argued that the rich history with which the parish is endowed should not be a difficult task to make the parish an outstanding place.

Parish manager for the Social Development Commission in Hanover, Tova Trench Anderson, who guided the organisation through its nomination and election process, thanked the outgoing executive for their work despite the many challenges they faced.

She pointed out that the proper running of the PDC is an integral step in the process of promoting and facilitating the active participation of citizens in the decision-making process of their communities, and by extension the parish.

Trench-Anderson said, “The quality of the process that we had did not happen by chance, because we understood that while it was important to host the election, it was also important to implement a process that was transparent and fair to all.”

She reminded that all the CDCs and other stakeholders within the parish had a fair chance to participate in the process.

“The Social Development Commission remains committed to the local governance partnership, and we will be working closely with you (the PDC) to improve the quality of life of our residents,” Trench-Anderson stated.

All the newly elected members of the group voiced their commitment to the task at hand.