‘He can say anything he wants’

WESTERN BUREAU:

BERTEL MOORE, the political directorate at the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC), says he will not be intimidated by the comments made by Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government and rural development, about his leadership.

“I am not intimidated by him, he who knows better speaks better. He can say anything he wants,” Moore told The Gleaner.

He was responding to comments made by McKenzie on a Nationwide Radio programme aired on January 28, following a stand-off between them over the continued delay in the construction of a fruit and vegetable market in Negril that was approved for construction in 2017.

STONEWALLING PROJECTS

McKenzie said he has no confidence in Moore’s leadership of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, and that the People’s National Party-led corporation is the only municipality that he is unable to effectively work with.

“I think I have reached a point with Mayor Moore that there is a lack of trust and confidence in his leadership in Westmoreland,” McKenzie said.

According to McKenzie, the WMC, under the leadership of Moore as mayor of Savanna-la-Mar, has been stonewalling projects designed to enhance the quality of life for the people of the parish.

He further noted that the Savanna-la-Mar mayor has less than desirable track record and is doing a great disservice to the people of Negril.

However, Moore fired back, saying: “I know I am doing what is best for my parish. I could never be a stumbling block. I want what is best.”

In 2017, two projects were initiated by the local government ministry to build the Negril Fruit and Vegetable Market, and a commitment of $75 million was made by McKenzie. In addition, he announced the construction of a new male ward and a matron’s quarters at the Savanna-la-Mar Infirmary, to the tune of $42 million. Neither of these projects have been completed in the last five years.

McKenzie toured these projects and reprimanded Moore for what he described as “poor leadership” in facilitating the delivery of projects across the parish in a timely manner.

However, Moore, at a recent press conference, hit back insisting that he is not being tardy and that he will not be forced into evicting the approximately 25 small business operators from the market site without having a suitable alternative [location] for them to continue conducting business until construction is completed on the market.

Moore’s decision on this has to do with McKenzie’s claim that he failed to issue notice to the vendors, to the point that others have since occupied the space, including the setting up of a car wash and a bar, after his (McKenzie’s) previous visit in December last year.