By Cedric Johnson, Gleaner WriterWESTMORELAND:
THE WESTMORELAND Parish Council has spurned an invitation from Dr. Karl Blythe, the Member of Parliament for Central Westmoreland to meet with him in a bid to settle the ongoing wrangle over a site for a cemetery for Savanna-la-Mar.
"No useful purpose will be served by such a meeting," said Mayor Delford Morgan who hinted that the Council would be 'taking the bull by the horns' and repossess the original Llandilo site, first earmarked for the cemetery but which was taken by the Central Westmoreland Trust.
The Mayor said this in response to a letter from Dr. Blythe read at Thursday's meeting of the Council inviting the Mayor to "come and let us talk". The letter restated residents' objection to cemeteries on both the Llandilo and Walter Chedde-singh properties and concluded, "I have to listen to the voice of the people."
"This is the first time we are hearing directly from the MP on this matter. However, there is no way we can start the process all over again and no way can we go back to government on this matter, we have done that already, said Mayor Morgan.
According to him, the Council was never officially given any logical reason why the site first earmarked could not be used as a cemetery. The matter, he said cannot be delayed any longer as there must be a proper place to bury the dead.
"There's an attempt to side-step the real issue. The MP's argument that the area, being residential, cannot site a cemetery, cannot stand up," said Councillor Earl Brooks who expressed the view that the matter had been on the back burner for too long. "We should go ahead so long as we don't affect the ambience of the area," he said.
Some Councillors took the position that the Council should accept the MP's request for a meeting after Councillor Devon Thomas confirmed that he had seen residents set up road blocks in protest against the proposed plan for a cemetery at both sites.
However, Mayor Morgan ruled that he was not in favour of such a meeting and the Council would proceed to do what was necessary for the capital town to have a cemetery.
