Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
MCKENZIE
COUNCIL MEETINGS at the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) could be jeopardised as indicated by this week's boycott of a committee meeting by Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillors.
This follows Monday's tear-gassing of Mayor Desmond McKenzie by police during an aborted march of JLP-affiliated mayors and councillors to Jamaica House. Members of the group said they wanted to deliver letters to Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, seeking his assistance in the provision of well-needed funds for their parish council divisions.
COULD NOT VOUCH FOR ATTENDANCE
There was no meeting this week of the Commercial Services Committee of the KSAC, and Mayor McKenzie told The Gleaner he could not vouch for the attendance of JLP councillors at any future KSAC meetings.
"I can't speak for any JLP councillors in regard to their attendance at any meeting," he said, following a three-hour meeting with JLP councillors at the corporation's Church Street office.
Angela Brown-Burke, People's National Party (PNP) minority leader at the KSAC, charged in a statement that PNP councillors were disappointed that Mayor Desmond McKenzie and JLP councillors had abandoned all council meetings.
"The business of the citizens of Kingston and St. Andrew must be given priority above all political manoeuvrings," she stated. "The actions of Councillor McKenzie and his JLP colleagues can only be deemed selfish, partisan, wanton and reckless."
OBLIGATED TO EXECUTE DUTIES
According to Brown-Burke, the mayor and councillors were obligated to execute their duties in spite of political views.
Mrs. Brown-Burke also condemned what she said was the manner in which JLP councillors and senior officers sought to deal with funding for parochial roads.
The PNP's Youth Organisation (PNPYO), during a press conference at the party's Old Hope Road headquarters in St. Andrew, said Monday's march by the JLP on Jamaica House was "a backward political strategy" which, it said, "had no place in a 21st-century developing country that upholds the rule of law.
"Such calculated acts of provocation and confrontation are unbecoming of an organisation desirous of offering itself to lead this country," PNPYO president, Andrew O'Kola, told reporters.
Meanwhile, JLP chairman, Dr. Ken Baugh, in a statement condemned the tear-gassing of party officials, stating that the gathering of mayors and councillors did not pose any threat to public order and did not disrupt traffic or create obstruction or nuisance. Dr. Baugh called on Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to apologise to the mayors, councillors and citizens who were tear-gassed.
