By Gerald Miller, Freelance WritersWESTERN BUREAU:
SOME RESIDENTS of Westmoreland have not taken kindly to the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) declaration that their parish is now the nation's second poorest behind St Mary and are claiming that the variables used to make that assessment are flawed. "I can't subscribed to that assessment that this parish is the second poorest parish after St Mary," said Councillor Winston Comrie, the deputy Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar. "People are buying brand name clothes, which is an indication that the people are not poor."
According to Claire Bernard, of the PIOJ, the ranking of Westmoreland as the second poorest parish after St. Mary took into consideration factors such as the parish's housing stock, the consumption pattern, access to drinking water, indoor taps, pit latrines, employment and the general toilet facilities. Despite its assessment of the parish, which has a population of 141,800 people, 5.4 of the national population, the PIOJ also ranked Westmoreland as the nation's fourth largest domestic crop producer, accounting for 10.7 per cent of the total domestic crop production in Jamaica. It noted that in 2001, the parish recorded 33.5 per cent of the total sugar production. Contrary to the views expressed by Councillor Comrie, businessman Norman Anderson concurred with the PIOJ findings. According to him, the town of Savanna-la-Mar has a lot of slum communities that need some kind of renewal. The Westmoreland native also added that the parish has the most wooden structures, which speaks to the fact that most of the people do not own lands for themselves.
However, in dismissing the PIOJ's rating of the parish, Councillor Comrie said the housing stock in the parish discounted that kind of assessment. The Deputy Mayor added that the increase in commercial activities is also a sign of the wealth that exists in the parish.
"The increasing amount of commercial activities in the parish is an indication that the parish has some wealth," said Councillor Comrie. "I am not convinced that a proper assessment was done and I do not know if the parameters used were correct." Camile Beckford, a teacher at the Savanna-la-Mar High School, and who is also a native of Westmoreland, fully agrees with Councillor Comrie's position. "I don't agree that this parish is the second poorest parish in Jamaica," she said. "I think they (PIOJ) need to do a more intense data collection before they can draw their conclusions."
While agreeing there is an increase in poverty in the town of Savanna-la-Mar, Reverend Carlton Wilson, Chairman of the Ministerial Fraternity in the parish, does not agree that poverty is rife in the entire parish.
"In Savanna-la-Mar itself, poverty is rife. But when you look into the rural areas you do not see this kind of problem," said Reverend Wilson, who expressed concerns over the proliferation of drug addicts in the town of Savanna-la-Mar. "The more drugs take over the lives of the people the more people are going to become poorer."
