St. Thomas Parish Development Committee Re-Launched

The St. Thomas Parish Development Committee (PDC) has been re-launched to lead the development process in the parish and facilitate greater representation for residents at the local level.
According to Luther Cummings, Social Development Commission (SDC) Field Services Manager for Morant Bay, the re-energised PDC establishes a new framework and governance structure for a modern St. Thomas.”The new PDC brings together and engages all the primary interest groups in the parish and places on them a mandate to prioritise the economic advancement of St. Thomas,” he told JIS News.
The 78-member committee, embraces 52 communities in St. Thomas, and comprises the parish’s two members of parliament, nine councillors, the mayor, the parish council’s secretary manager and representatives of state agencies, non-government groups and the private sector.
Among the proposed functions of the new PDC are: the development of a strategy for growth in the parish and disseminating information to enhance public awareness of these plans.
Mr. Cummings explained that the new committee came about as a result of the passage of a resolution by the St. Thomas Parish Council in June 2002, which called for the restructuring of the council’s management processes. This gave rise to the formation of three town and area councils, which further entrenched the democratic process in the parish.
He told JIS News, that the re-launch of the PDC, “has now created the greatest participatory mechanism for citizens to become part of the development process of the parish.”
Principal of Providence Preparatory, Franklyn Holness, has been elected to chair the committee.