Uter blasts councillors for ‘neglecting’ people’s work

WESTERN BUREAU:

MINORITY LEADER of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caucus in the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC), Rudolph Uter, blasted councillors who failed to show up for Thursday’s monthly general meeting, forcing a cancellation of the sitting.

Uter said the no-show by councillors from both his JLP and People’s National Party caucuses is an attempt towards abounding the people’s business.

“When we allow these meetings to fall through, it seems as if we are neglecting to do the work of the people here in Westmoreland,” said Uter.

Speaking with reporters following the announcement by Deputy Chairman of the WMC Danree Delancy that the general meeting would not take place due to the lack of a quorum, Uter said while it is the first time that the general meeting was not held as scheduled, councillors have been shunning several other committee meetings.

“What transpired here today, it is also happening (for) our committee meetings, some of the times those meetings are cancelled because we don’t have a quorum,” the JLP minority leader revealed.

“Our public health and sanitary committee meeting also fell through for this month, and it is a critical meeting where we discuss and get updates on health issues affecting the parish,” he continued.

Uter, who is the councillor for the Frome division in the WMC, expressed disappointment in not being able to represent his constituents, while urging councillors from both sides of the political divide not to relinquish their responsibilities in serving the people of the parish.

“The people of Westmoreland have elected their councillors in good faith, so we need them here to carry out the business of the people,” he argued.

Approximately an hour after the scheduled 10 o’clock start, only four councillors were present for the meeting, along with several officials from state agencies.

In attendance were the Frome division’s Uter; Lee Simpson, the councillor for Savanna-la-Mar South; Delancy from the Bethel Town division; and Cebert McFarlane, the councillor for Leamington.

For the meeting to start, it required a quorum of at least five councillors. The WMC consists of 14 divisions. However, there are 12 active councillors operating in the parish, as councillors for the Whitehouse and Petersfield divisions resigned and the areas are now being supervised by Savanna-la-Mar Mayor Bertel Moore.

Like Uter, Delancy, the deputy mayor of Savanna-la-Mar, expressed disappointment, arguing that it was the first time since he was elected there was such an experience. He also noted that the cancellation of the WMC meeting came on the back of two apologies due to emergencies outside of the parish, among other unknown reasons.

“We had apologies from a number of councillors, including His Worship the Mayor (Bertel Moore), who would have been late. We also had two councillors who had emergencies and two others also apologised, I’m not sure what’s the reasons for their apologies,” Delancy told reporters.

“As it stands, once it reaches 11 o’clock, an hour after the scheduled start time and we have no quorum, we have no choice but to announce that the meeting has fallen through,” he informed.

“It is with deep regret that I make this announcement. In all my years at council, I can’t recall having experienced something like this and I hope and trust that I don’t have to experience it again.”

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com