Sir Alexander Bustamante’s 141st birthday celebrations in limbo

WESTERN BUREAU:

The annual celebration to mark the birthday of national hero, Sir Alexander Bustamante, at his birthplace in Blenheim, Hanover, could be significantly scaled down this year as the planning committee of the Hanover Municipal Corporation has not secured the funding needed to stage the customary civic event.

At a recent meeting of the planning committee, which was chaired by Councillor Andria Dehaney-Grant, the deputy mayor of Lucea, it was revealed that the event, which would also mark the 141st anniversary of Sir Alexander’s birth, slated for February 24, does not have the funding to stage the event with the glamour of former years.

“The decision would be for the planning committee to make, as it relates to the type of event we can have; civic ceremony or floral tribute, as there is no (financial) allocation to the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) for the Bustamante Birthday celebrations,” Shyan Williams, the commission’s parish manager told the meeting.

With an estimated budget of $800,000 to stage the customary civic ceremony and just $150,000 to do a low-keyed floral tribute, Williams said that without a financial allocation from the government, serious consideration is being given to seek the least expensive option.

In former years, the event attracted speakers from both the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) the political party and the trade union respectively that was founded by Sir Alexander, who was the first prime minister of Independent Jamaica. Additionally, schools and other entities from the parish would perform cultural items.

NO FINANCIAL COMMITMENT FROM MPS

During deliberations in the meeting, it was revealed that only the BITU had been confirmed for a financial contribution, as to date, no financial commitment has come from the parish’s two members of parliament, Dave Brown (east) and Tamika Davis (west) – who are both aligned to the JLP.

Pressed on whether the Corporation would be able to make a financial commitment to the staging of the event, David Gardner, the chief executive officer of the HMC, said, “Unfortunately the HMC will not be able to, at this point in time.”

After the meeting, Dehaney-Grant told The Gleaner that her preference would have been for a civic ceremony and she was therefore disappointed that that is unlikely to happen.

“Sir Alexander Bustamante is a former prime minister of Jamaica, and has been instrumental in our parish, and I figure that we should not be struggling to find resources to have such a valuable event within our parish. So I am hoping that we will get some contributions so that we can have the type of function that we really want, and that is befitting of the occasion,” she said.

Former Mayor of Lucea, Wynter McIntosh, the councillor for the Chester Castle division, who was a part of the planning committee meeting, also expressed his disappointment at the outcome of the discussions.

“For a former ... prime minister of Jamaica, and founder of one of the major political parties in the country, it’s really disappointing that the people in the parish cannot enjoy the usual civic function as they are used to, in memory of his birthday,” said McIntosh. “I think some more respect, as it relates to this national hero and founder of a political party, is due.