St Catherine councillors vote for naming of highway in honour of Portia Simpson Miller

A resolution calling for the Jamaica North/South leg of Highway 2000 to be renamed the Portia Simpson Miller Highway was yesterday passed by a narrow margin in the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, with 14 councillors of the People's National Party supporting the measure, while 13 Jamaica Labour Party councillors voting 'no'.

The renaming of the North/South leg of the highway has sparked national debate ever since Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced in March this year that the highway would be named in honour of former Prime Minister Edward Seaga.

The Cabinet has already approved the renaming of the highway as the Edward Seaga Highway.

As part of the resolution, the PNP councillors noted that former Prime Minister Simpson Miller, on an official trip to China in August 2013, met with the president of China, government officials and the chairman and president of the China Communications Construction Company. The resolution stated that the head of the company indicated that their first international investment project in Jamaica would be the North/South leg of Highway 2000 and "gave assurances that it would be completed in good time, on schedule, and with good quality."

"Be it resolved that the section of the Jamaica North/South leg of Highway 2000 from the Mandela Highway in St Catherine to where the border of St Ann and St Catherine meets, be named the 'Portia Simpson Miller Highway'," the resolution stated.