KSAC to Resume Town Hall Meetings

Beginning this month, the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) will restart its Town Hall Meetings across sections of the corporate area.

Speaking at the monthly KSAC meeting held at Council chambers, Church Street, downtown Kingston on January 14, Mayor of Kingston, Senator Angela Brown Burke, informed that the intention is to do at least four for the calendar year.

“The idea is to move it around Kingston and St. Andrew and get an opportunity to get feedback from the communities in which we are doing it, in terms of what are the major issues and also an opportunity to share with (the citizens) what we have planned,” she explained.

The Mayor said that this will also allow persons to be more informed regarding the various programmes and policies of the corporation and the timeline for completion.

“There are so many things that people would like to see (get) done (but) given the constraints we have in terms of financial, human (etcetera), we have to be realistic in (terms) of what can be done and so we want to manage those expectations, and we know that once you get into that kind of discussion, even what we have planned to do may change base on the discussions,” the Mayor said.

The meetings, which commenced in 2012, formed part of efforts to build partnerships between the council and citizenry.

Mayor Brown Burke noted that last year, instead of town hall meetings, stakeholder discussions were undertaken.

“We were kind of working through some of the challenges we were having and how we could improve the standard of service that we offer,” she noted.