Portland East residents clamour for caretakers to be named

Constituents of Portland Eastern are clamouring for the naming of standard-bearers to fill the power vacuum in the Fellowship and Fairy Hill municipal divisions since the deaths of councillors Irvin Brown and Derron Wood, respectively.

Residents of Moore Town in the Rio Grande Valley complained bitterly on Monday about not having a political representative for Fellowship to lobby on their behalf at monthly meetings of the Portland Municipal Division.

Tamara Douglas, who spoke on behalf of a group of residents, argued that there was need for the installation of a caretaker to address critical issues at the community level.

She was quick to point out however that she is able to visit the office of the MP, at will, to relate some of the challenges facing that community.

“Yeah, a full-time now. So far, we need road and developments. We are used to Irvin Brown and we could talk to him and him do things,” said Douglas, sharing that she was impressed by the networking of Shanique Green who has been interacting with residents.

Since the passing of Brown, Port Antonio Mayor Paul Thompson acted as caretaker for Fellowship for the better part of six months.

With the sudden passing of Wood, that responsibility has been shifted to Deputy Mayor Rohan Vassell, councillor for the Balcarres division in the Buff Bay Valley of Portland Western.

“I now oversee the Fairy Hill division, which is a lot closer to my division of Manchioneal,“ Thompson pointed out.

He praised Portland Eastern Member of Parliament Ann-Marie Vaz for filling the gap somewhat in the absence of the representatives.

Desmond Lee is one of scores of farming interests in Windsor. He cultivates bananas, plantains, dasheens, and coconut trees.

Lee wants a caretaker who will offer assistance to farmers.

“Yuh haffi have a caretaker weh yuh can talk to, ‘cause sometime Miss Vaz busy. Mi do mi farming and more time mi waan likkle help inna mi farming and mi nuh see nobody fi go to,” he said.

Vaz said that the process to select a new caretaker for both divisions was under way and that the secretariat was conducting due-diligence checks to ensure that the best representatives were identified.

“The needs of the residents are paramount, and until a caretaker is selected, I will ensure as MP that I remain accessible at all times and for the work to continue in the two divisions,” Vaz said.

Brown, a first-time councillor who won on a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ticket in 2016, passed away at the University Hospital of the West Indies on October 20, 2020, from complications from COVID-19.

Wood, who won four elections on the trot for the JLP, also suffered COVID-19 complications in mid-March.

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