SPANISH TOWN:
SEVERAL GROUPS in St. Catherine are up in arms with plans by the St. Catherine Parish Council to shut down several community-based organisations in the old capital and its environs.
In a recent sitting of the St. Catherine Parish Council, Councillor Howard Charvis passed a resolution calling for the end to several splinter organisations in Spanish Town, most of whom are without proper accountability.
According to Councillor Charvis, supported by other councillors, there are too many splinter groups in the town, most of which have no proper structure.
But, according to one member of the St. Catherine Parish Development Committee, who asked that his name not be mentioned, the Parish Council has no power to close down any organisation.
According to the resolution passed by the Council, an umbrella organisation must be set up, made up of the several splinter groups in the town and that no further funds be spent until the group is in place.
JLP Councillor Knox Johnson, who supported the resolution suggested, "we must have one uniform force for the development of St. Catherine, we need to have a meeting with those groups now and move on."
President of the St. Catherine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rudolph Green, speaking with The Gleaner on Wednesday, said that although he did not hear of the move by the Parish Council, such action was questionable, as every group in the town is set up for different purposes.
David Reid, head of the Spanish Town Community Tourism Action Team, shared the same view as Mr. Green and warned that the Council is attempting to rob the people of Spanish Town of their deep interest in the development of the first city.
Letters of the move have already been sent to the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development and the Office of the Prime Minister, according to Secretary Manager of the St. Catherine Parish Council Michael Morris.
