MoBay High student is Junior Mayor
published: Friday | November 28, 2003
WESTERN BUREAU:
SCHADE STANTON, a 14-year-old student of the Montego Bay High School, was adjudged winner of the St. James Parish Council Junior Mayor competition at the Civic Centre in Sam Sharpe Square on Wednesday.
The fourth form student walked away with the Montego Bay Junior Mayor title, beating 16 other students, who will make up the body of the junior council.
The 17 students were drawn from high schools across St. James and each represents a parish council division.
Suzette-Brown, public relations officer at the St. James Parish Council, said the purpose of the 11-year-old competition is to pique the interest of youth in Local Government issues.
"This year we have a commitment from the senior councillors to mentor the junior councillors. They (juniors) will also be required to put forward a project for the year and see to its implementation with the assistance of the council and civil society," she said.
Guest Speaker, Robert Hill, implementation facilitator of the Parish Infrastructure Develop-ment Programme (PIDP) in the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, lauded the students for the "honourable move" they made by getting involved in the competition.
"You are the 'top-a-top' representatives that possess the potential, the intelligence and capacity to take Jamaica forward," he said. "In this competition, you will learn or have learnt not only about each other but also more intricately how our central and local government systems work."
During his speech, Mr. Hill spoke about the history of Local Government in Jamaica and encouraged them to hold onto their dreams and to serve their communities and country with pride.
"It is absolutely essential that our young people be brought fully into the decision-making fabric, not only to feel a part of the change but also to fundamentally influence the reform process," he urged. "In so doing we, the incumbent must find it imperative to begin motivating and encouraging the interest of the young in the management and operation of local government practices."
The competition was also attended by Mayor of Montego Bay Noel Donaldson; Dr. Horace Chang, Member of Parliament for North West St. James; Christopher Powell, secre-tary/manager at the St. James Parish Council, and several senior councillors.
