Some Portmore residents opposed to parish push

Some residents of Portmore, St Catherine, are hoping that the Government's plan to transform the municipality into a parish never comes to light.

They believe such a move would do more harm than good to the fast-growing municipality, which has a population of about 182,000.

Rosie Brown, who dwells in Daytona, said that she is not even a little excited about the possibility of parish status.

"I think all the Government is interested in is the money they will get if they turn Portmore into a parish. It is now a municipality and taxes made here are used within the area, but they want everything to go to Kingston in their pockets. It is a trick," Brown told THE WEEKEND STAR.

Portmore, known as the 'Sunshine City', was once called 'Salt Pond'. It has seen much development over the decades, but Nicholas Pinnock, a barber, says he does not see the change doing much good.

The real motive

"Portmore is a part of a parish already, so them don't need to separate it. I just want to know what is the real motive behind making it a parish," he said. "There is some political motive. All of a sudden, they want to turn it into a parish? I don't understand it."

"A years now they talking about a hospital and I haven't seen that and many other developments. So I wonder, when they turn it into a parish, if they will address those and have it benefit people in Portmore," Pinnock added.

"Why would they want to make Portmore a parish? I think it is a very bad idea because it is already congested," said Affrica Jones. "I've been living here over 12 years and a lot of place that I use to play football are now housing schemes. It is ridiculous, and they are wondering why the place is so hot and the roads are being destroyed. Too many people are here already."

Granting parish status to the home of the famous Hellshire beach will see the area reaping economic, social and cultural benefits, local government minister Desmond McKenzie said in Parliament on Tuesday. This was after a motion was tabled to welcome the possible change.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness had declared in his 2020 election manifesto the idea to transform Portmore into a parish.

Meanwhile, Petrina Grant, who has been living in 3 West Greater Portmore for 26 years, told THE WEEKEND STAR that the municipality is already beaming, but she welcomes the development.

"Portmore is already a parish, the only thing we are short of is a hospital. Outside of that, we have everything," said Grant. "St Catherine doesn't really represent us, because we have all that we need. People all leave from Spanish Town to come to our health centre, just to show you."