St. Thomas Parish Council to Honour Community Stalwarts

The St. Thomas Parish Council will this month, pay tribute to 40 community stalwarts, who have made significant contribution to the development of the parish and who performed outstandingly during Hurricane Ivan, providing assistance to needy persons.
The honourees will be presented with awards at a ceremony to be held on November 30. The function is being held as part of activities to observe Local Government and Community Development Month.
Secretary/Manager of the Council, Clinton Gordon told JIS News, that the majority of persons to receive awards would be those “who went above and beyond the call of duty during the hurricane period to ensure that peoples’ lives and properties were safe.”
He said the persons would be selected by a committee set up by the Parish Council. “We so often hear about the negatives and what people do not do. It is important that we salute and recognize the good things that people do,’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Secretary/Manager said that the youth council meeting that was scheduled for later this month, was cancelled because of damage to the Council’s building as a result of Hurricane Ivan, while on October 6, fire destroyed another section of the building. Some of the schools scheduled to participate had also suffered hurricane damage.
The Council has since moved to a temporary location at No. 11 Church Street in Morant Bay. Council meetings are held at the conference room of the Morant Bay Police Station, depending on its availability.
The annual Youth Council meeting provides an opportunity for young people to act as Councillors and to present ideas that would help to develop their communities as well as to air problems that were affecting them.