Get Portmore’s constituencies back on track
THE MEMBERSHIP of the Greater Portmore Joint Council is very alarmed that after the untidy constituency boundary changes which created a dilemma for a vast swathe of Portmore residents, there are recommendations to solve the situation whereby the municipality would be left without a directly elected mayor.
If there is any truth to this, the members of the Electoral Office of Jamaica ( EOJ) and the Electoral Commission of Jamaica ( ECJ) should tender their resignations for gross dereliction of duty. It was they who gave the go- ahead to hold the general election in 2011 and the local government election later on two different boundaries, which has now placed part of the municipality electorally in Spanish Town.
The Greater Portmore Joint Council, having studied the situation for the past two years, now puts forward the following proposal that would bring the boundary issue to rest, thus allowing the councillors for the Portmore Pines and Greater Portmore North Division back into the Portmore Municipal Council.
1) Amend Section 3 of the Municipal Act. This section speaks to the establishment of a municipality whereby a total of seven per cent of the proposed municipality would have to sign a petition. The fact is that members of Portmore had already done this from as far back as 10 years ago. What is needed now is the legislative amendment that would address the expansion of the municipality.
2) This legislative framework should also include a clause stating that if the majority of the residents fall within a particular boundary, the councillor should sit with that local authority. The parish council act that states that all of the division must fall within Portmore or the councillor sits with the St Catherine Parish Council must be amended. The fact is all the councillors are required to sit with the council of Spanish Town, so why bar them from sitting in the Portmore Municipal Council if that’s where more than 80 per cent of their constituents reside?
3) Amend the Municipality Act to deal clearly with what is to be done upon the death of a directly elected mayor. The current act only deals with absence and incapacitation. In fact, the minister has power vested in him through the Municipal Act and, therefore, has the power to appoint someone to provide oversight of the management of the affairs of the municipality.
4) Amend the Municipal Act to give the directly elected mayor a casting vote.
The spirit of the advocates for municipal status wanted not a ceremonial mayor but an execu- tive one. The Greater Portmore Joint Council and its constituents will not allow any further breakdown of the municipality and will resist any attempt to do so, whether by those in power, or those seeking power. Any attempt to hold a mayoral election without the necessary adjustments will be resisted.