Andrew Wheatley | Portmore parish status: A macro perspective

The researched benefits of parish status to the community of Portmore are enormous and varied. Some are obvious to even the most superficial of observers, others are not so discernible. The transformation of Portmore into a parish will have impact beyond the parish: the impact will be felt on a national scale. Portmore, the 15th parish, is going to be the model of 21st-century Jamaica.

Increased crime-fighting capacity and capability resulting from the buildout of new parish police divisions have the potential to impact the national crime figures positively as the parish will have its own police divisions, and with that, greater numbers. Improved access to sports, health and wellness services and facilities; improved access to governmental services and facilities; improved access to social and other services are obvious benefits of parish status for the community of Portmore.

Sports development, in particular, is one of the areas in Portmore that has been stunted by amalgamation with the wider St Catherine. Parish status will bestow upon the residents of the parish of Portmore their own parish sports associations and with that, the chance to tap into the vast sport resources that reside in the parish. Based on geography and demographics, organised sports will thrive in Portmore parish under able parish associations. Participants and spectators are available in droves, what remains is parish status, along with high-quality management and marketing and the support of corporate Jamaica. The development of cricket, football, netball and basketball all stand to benefit from parish status. I submit that even Jamaica’s national sport programmes stand to benefit directly and indirectly.

On the macro level and in Jamaica’s national interest, parish status can unlock the full tech potential of Portmore. The demographics already provide the required know-how (Portmore has more trained persons per capita than any other parish in Jamaica); the existing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is a starting point to make Portmore parish Jamaica’s Silicon Valley, or in Portmore terms, Jamaica’s Sunshine Valley, where we seek partnership with Silicon Valley firms to expand our BPO offerings beyond mere business process outsourcing to more technical aspects of the world of technology.

Portmore’s ease of access increases the potential for 100 per cent broadband access; mobile phone density is also higher than any other parish. All this potential can be more carefully harnessed and developed within a parish framework.

Benefits extend beyond Portmore

The expansion of the service sector and buildout of the parish tourism infrastructure have the potential to transform not only the parish of Portmore, but the benefits extend beyond the borders and shores of Portmore. The expansion of the service and tourism sector under an overall parish development plan will place Portmore as a net importer of labour – a significant contribution to national development.

On the matter of energy: Portmore has the potential to become the beacon of alternative energy utilisation in Jamaica. The climate and architecture readily lends itself to the deployment of solar panels on 100 per cent of the dwellings in Portmore. A 100 per cent solar panel density for the parish of Portmore would translate into enormous savings for the country as a whole, but would also reduce the reliance on hydrocarbons and the demand on the Jamaica Public Service, which can contribute to a lowering of overall energy cost in Jamaica. The potential for Portmore parish to utilise wind energy, particularly in Hellshire, to create a wind farm in the area to supply additional energy to the grid is also an area that can be targeted within a parish framework.

While the advantages of parish status for the citizens and the space of Portmore are on the surface obvious, as a scientist, it is important that I go beyond the superficial and test the hypothesis. As a scientist, it is important also that I acknowledge my bias towards the scientific method; it is personally difficult for me to ignore the scientific approach in all my undertakings.

In science, one collects data to test a hypothesis: we began with an existing theory, in this case, parish status is good for Portmore. A hypothesis is then formulated based on the existing theory. In this case, parish status will benefit all citizens of Portmore. Data is then collected to test the hypothesis; the results are then analysed to determine if the data rejects or support the hypothesis.

Understanding the potential political dynamics involved (which does not always coincide with scientific fact) in the case of parish status for Portmore, the research team and I made considerable effort to find data that would reject the hypothesis as any prudent scientist would. It is important to note that a less than one per cent rejection rate means the data rejects the hypothesis. In the case of parish status for Portmore, the data supported the hypothesis full hundred. There are no discernible disadvantages of parish status for Portmore.

In acknowledging the limitations of the deductive approach, it is important to note that the conclusions of any deductive inquiry can only be true if all the premises set in the inductive study are true: this limitation in itself further confirms the hypothesis that parish status will benefit all residents of the community of Portmore as the premises set in the inductive study are all true.

Dr Andrew Wheatley is the member of parliament for South Central St Catherine and chairman of the Joint Select Committee for the establishment of Portmore as a parish.