WESTERN BUREAU:
BUREAUCRATIC BUNGLING is being blamed for the failure of the authorities to deliver on a promise of three new cemeteries to residents in the towns of Whitehouse, Sheffield and Savanna-la-Mar - all in the parish of Westmoreland.
In Whitehouse and Sheffield, the delay is a result of tardiness in implementation while in Savanna-la-Mar, the delay is said to be as a result of the failure of Member of Parliament, Dr. Karl Blythe, to turn over the 20-acre site that was promised to the Parish Council.
"I have written to Dr. Blythe on the matter and I am expecting a quick response from him," said Savanna-la-Mar's Mayor, Coun-cillor Ralph Anglin, at the recent monthly meeting of the Parish Council.
In an interview last July, Dr. Blythe told The Gleaner that the proposed cemetery site for Savanna-la-Mar was in the process of being transferred to the Parish Council. However, when contacted, the Council denied knowledge of any such transaction.
"My first request for a cemetery for Whitehouse was made 20 years ago," said Councillor Ivan Pinnock, who has been representing that division for some 40 years. "The Prime Minister (Member of Parliament for the area) should know that there are persons in the government sheltering under the cover of the ruling party who are holding back the progress and stifling the effort of the government."
Councillor Pinnock was speaking against the background of the fact that, five years ago, 3000 acres of lands were identified and earmarked at Mount Edgecombe as a cemetery. However, after initially agreeing to the plans, the property owners, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) suddenly back track, saying the lands were needed for other purposes.
In Sheffield, several sites were looked at by the agencies concerned and a property owned by the Ministry of Water and Housing settled on. However, after years of wrangling over the ownership of the land, the Ministry stated that it has an agreement in place to sell the lands to the Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB).
In expressing disappointment over the trend of events, Bertel Moore, the Councillor for the Sheffield area said that, "part of that property was already sold to the JMB, now we are told JMB is buying the whole of it, while we are left without a place to bury the dead."
