PORT MARIA, ST MARY:

Traffic problems in St. Mary's capital, Port Maria, dominated discussions in the sitting of the parish council's monthly meeting last Thursday.

The problem of finding parking space to facilitate taxi drivers in the town has left the newly installed Mayor of Port Maria, Richard Creary, infuriated.

According to a report, former member of parliament for Central St. Mary, Horace Clarke, formed a committee to set up a terminus 12 years ago.

Congestion

Today, the committee no longer exists and the terminus has been taken over by a former chairman of the committee.

He reportedly took control of the terminus, which he now run privately on the land that was partly owned by the Government and the Urban Development Cooperation.

The bus terminus is now rundown and taxi operators refuse to go into the parking area, causing congestion and inconvenience for businesses in the town.

The mayor has said there is no land available in the town for a bus terminus to be set up, so the only solution is to seek legal advice from the attorney general to claim the terminus.

Efforts to contact the owner of the terminus, Seymour Morale, proved futile.

- Nedburn Thaffe

St Ann's Bay Hospital gets booster

OCHO RIOS, ST ANN:

The Pinehurst, North Carolina, and the Ocho Rios Rotary clubs handed over approximately $2 million in medical equipment and supplies to the St Ann's Bay Hospital at the end of January.

This is the third year that both clubs have collaborated to help the hospital.

Past president of the Rotary Club of Pinehurst, Doug Moore, explained that the vision was shared with the Rotary Club of Ocho Rios when he was president of his club.

Past assistant governor and past president of the Rotary Club of Ocho Rios, Livingston Green chaired the handover ceremony.

The medical equipment donated include three hand-held pulse oximeters, 20 infrared thermometers, two defibrillators, one incubator, one vital signs monitor, on 3100 with Interp, one Coagucheck XS, and one Sigma 8000 Baxter infusion pump.

Special appreciation was expressed to Air Jamaica for its continued support in providing transportation of the equipment from Miami, Florida, to Sangster International Airport. The clubs commended the gesture.

- Devon Evans

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Sexual offences alarm circuit judges

BLACK RIVER, ST ELIZABETH:

A total of 53 cases are down for trial in the Hilary session of the St Elizabeth Circuit Court, which opened on Monday before High Court judge, Justice Donald McIntosh.

Of the 53 matters, 15 will be tried in the gun court session and 38 in the circuit court.

Sexual offences and murder, which number 24, have dominated the cases in the circuit court.

Justice McIntosh has expressed alarm at the large number of murders and sexual-offences cases.

He said that something needed to be done through a collaborative effort to ensure that the good reputation of St Elizabeth as a law-abiding parish was not tarnished.

The high court judge also called on the law-abiding residents to devise ways that could assist the police in its continuing education programme to reduce crime in the parish.

Justice McIntosh, while commenting on the large turnout of jurors, also fined those who were absent one thousand dollars, saying the figure would be consistent for the duration of the circuit court for all absentee jurors.

Neville Paul - Community College for St Mary

Oracabessa, St. Mary: Persons living in and around the parish of St. Mary will soon have access to higher learning in the performing arts, to be offered by the Excelsior Community College's offsite campus starting February 29.

The campus, which is a project between the St Mary Parish Council and the Excelsior Community College, was set up after the former mayor of Port Maria, Robert Montague, made a proposal to the school to offer courses in the parish.

A structure that once housed the banana chips factory at Oracabessa in the parish was later transformed to facilitate the campus.

Courses to be offered

Marketing manager at the Excelsior Community College, Gwyneth Jackson, said the structure currently holds one office area, a practice music room and can accommodate three classrooms.

Courses to be offered include entertainment management and coordination and preliminary performing arts, beginning February and September, respectively.

Course in entertainment management and coordination will run for a period of eight weeks. Students will then do four weeks of internship in a hotel or entertainment industry.

Registration for courses begins Friday, February 22.

- Nedburn Thaffe

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FFP delivers new book

CENTRAL VILLAGE, ST CATHERINE: Some 40,000 new mothers, fathers and caregivers who want to provide the very best care for their children will each receive a copy of the book Caring for Your Baby and Young Child.

Burchell McPherson, chairman of Food For the Poor, Jamaica, made the presentation, valued at over $50 million, to the permanent secretary in the Minister of Health, Grace Allen-Young and the registrar general, Dr Patricia Holness at the Registrar General's Department breakfast meeting in Central Village, St Catherine.

A similar quantity of books was presented to the Victoria Jubilee Hospital late last year.

- Contributed

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Circuit court begins in Portland PORT ANTONIO, PORTLAND: The Portland Hilary session circuit court session opened at the Buff Bay court, on Monday, with a parade by members of the local Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), along with a ceremony.

The circuit court session, which will run for approximately three weeks, will see a total of 23 cases, ranging from carnal abuse to murder. Justice Lennox Campbell will oversee the three-week-long proceedings, which should climax in mid March. Icalene Reid is representing the queen's council.

Of the 23 cases which will be heard over the period, three are for murder, three for sexual offences including carnal abuse and rape, 14 are gun-related, one for wounding, one for assault, and one for conspiracy to murder.

The circuit session was declared open by Custos of Portland, Roy Thompson. Approximately 18 members of the JCF took part in the parade and ceremony.

Accompanied by their teachers, the parade attracted dozens of students from the nearby Bradford Preparatory and Liberty Learning Centre who came out to witness the parade.

- Gareth Davis Sr