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PM Confident that Portmore can Sustain Itself as a Parish

November 29, 2007

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Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding has expressed his confidence, that the municipality of Portmore has a strong enough economic base to sustain itself as a parish.
Mr. Golding expressed the view while answering questions in the House of Representatives regarding the designation of Portmore as Jamaica’s 15th parish. “I do not accept that Portmore does not have a strong economic base to sustain itself. I would however accept that we need to make room for the expansion of Portmore beyond what we now know as Portmore,” Mr. Golding said, He disclosed that at a meeting on the matter with the Mayor of Portmore, Councillor George Lee, it had been indicated that the municipality had already identified what they consider to be the appropriate boundary for Portmore.
This he said would allow for the expansion of Portmore, “not only within the infill pockets that are now available but would allow for its expansion westward. It apparently is a line of demarcation that the Mayor and his Council are happy with. It is part of discussions that continue,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr. Golding further pointed out that the municipality has acquired a certain characteristic and that the demarcation that is decided on should recognize what is generally known and accepted culturally as Portmore, to ensure that it can function as a parish and a municipality that is going to in fact occupy the entirety of that parish.
“The thinking that is informing our decision on the matter, is that Portmore constitutes, outside of the corporate area the largest contiguous existence of residential communities. It requires a special kind of attention. The problems that Portmore faces, are not problems that can easily be dealt with in the same basket as the problems of a Guys Hill or Luidasvale,” he stated. “They require a particular kind of concentration. It is for that reason that the municipality was established, but Portmore as a municipality is not part of a bigger whole, Portmore as a municipality is the totality of Portmore. And we do feel that it deserves parish status -indeed, if it is established as a parish, it will rank as the fourth largest parish in terms of population in the island,” the Prime Minister outlined.

Last Updated: November 29, 2007

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