St Thomas councillors, residents clamour for Morant Bay by-election
Published:Friday | September 20, 2024 | 12:15 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
Declaring that the people in Morant Bay are “crying for representation”, People’s National Party (PNP) councillors in the St Thomas Municipal Corporation have organised a series of protests to press Mayor Louis Chin to announce an overdue by-election in the division.
The division has been without representation since the death of PNP Councillor Rohan Bryan, who died on May 1 after an ongoing battle with a heart condition.
Describing the extended vacancy as an indictment on Jamaica’s democracy, former Morant Bay Mayor Hubert Williams told The Gleaner that he and the two other PNP councillors in the municipal corporation will keep pressing for action.
“We’ll get a by-election by any means that is necessary,” he proclaimed.
On Thursday, Williams and the other councillors were joined by residents from the division in a protest outside the offices of the municipal corporation. They said they would keep other protests until a by-election is called.
“We see that (a by-election) as our right and we are not going to be begging anyone to get something that we rightfully deserve,” he said.
Section 4(5) of the 2016 Local Governance Act states that a by-election to fill a vacancy in any electoral division must be held the day the chairperson of the municipal corporation directs by order published in the Gazette after consultation with the chief electoral officer.
Section 4(5) (a) and (b) indicate that this must be within three months after the vacancy has been entered in the minutes of the council or a day within three months after notice in writing of the occurrence of the vacancy has been given to the chairperson of the municipal corporation by two persons who were entitled to vote at the last election of a councillor for that electoral division.
The Government, in August, used its majority in Parliament to pass a bill that delayed for a further 90 days the holding of a by-election in Morant Bay, citing the impact of Hurricane Beryl.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced a by-election in St Ann North Eastern, just a day after the resignation of Marsha Smith as its member of parliament.
At the time, he said announcements for by-elections for the other vacant constituencies would be done within the coming months.
However, Williams dismissed that commitment.
“I don’t believe in what the prime minister say and I don’t even care. The law clearly states what should happen when a seat become vacant. Now, something can’t be my right and I am going to kneel down in front of someone and beg or listen to whatever they want to say. Whatever the law says, that’s what should guide us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PNP’s caretaker for St Thomas Eastern, Rosemarie Shaw, lamented how the lack of representation has affected the residents in the Morant Bay division.
“The people have been crying out for representation; no garbage collection, replacement of street lights are on pause, no existence of water supply in the district of Industry Hill. Assistance regarding back to school is also on pause,” she said.
Additionally, they said most of the parochial roads in the division are in bad condition.
According to Shaw, the overdue by-election shows the disregard the Government has for the people of Morant Bay.
“The message is clear: they don’t care about people,” she said.