THE EDITOR, Sir:
PLEASE ALLOW me the privilege of responding to a letter carried in your Saturday, March 20, edition, written by Mayor Delford Morgan of the Westmoreland Parish Council.
As a politician, I have tried, like my Member of Parliament, Dr. Karl Blythe, to stay away from the press as it relates to this matter of lands for a cemetery for Westmoreland, but because of Mayor Delford Morgan's continuous public attack on our Member of Parliament (he represents the Savanna-la-Mar Division of Central Westmoreland, while I represent North Savanna-la-Mar Division of the same constituency) I am now forced to speak out publicly.
THROUGH HIS VISION
It should be remembered that it was Member of Parliament Blythe, from as far back as 1993, when the Central Westmoreland Trust (a non-profit and non-governmental organisation) was formed, through his vision, identified land on a section of the Walter Cheddesingh Subdivision in Llandilo, being developed by the Trust to be used for the purpose of cemetery. These lands were vested in the Commissioner of Lands and somewhere in 1995, she along with former Housing Minister Easton Douglas, legally signed over any rights to the land to the Central Westmoreland Trust.
Dr. Blythe, being mindful of the people he serves, responded to their outcry as well as that of some councillors, who were not in favour of siting a cemetery on the Walter Cheddesingh Subdivision. My memory is quite clear and at the time, one Miss Retta Tulsie, the president of the Walter Cheddesingh Citizens Association, led a charge to the MP and the Trust to reconsider the idea of a cemetery. Other groups were also backing this call. A decision was, therefore, taken to abandon the site and it was MP Blythe who approached the Trust and ensured that
they would reimburse the Westmoreland Parish Council the amount of money it had already spent on preparatory works on the abandoned site, as soon as the new site was identified.
TOURED OTHER SITES
The MP toured other sites with former Mayor Ralph Anglin and other members of the Parish Council, and identified a new site. Two months after the 2003 Local Government Elections, Dr. Blythe wrote a letter to the Ministry of Housing's officer in the parish, Maurice Reynolds, requesting that he urgently put him in a position to hand over the newly identified parcel of land to the Council.
The surveyor was instructed to do the survey. Dr. Blythe visited the newly identified site and spoke with persons who had started to occupy sections of the land and pointed out to them why they would have to move from this site. However, when the residents decided to protest by blocking roads, Dr. Blythe decided that the time had come for a committee to be put in place to deal with this matter once and for all. This is how the idea of putting a committee in place came about. Mayor Morgan was written to on the matter, yet he claims 'no explicit reason was given for this approach'.
This is not the first time that plans have been averted/abandoned in Council. What about the time when a dump site was identified in the constituency of Western Westmoreland at a place called Coolie Hill, in Friendship Division? This was strongly opposed by the Councillor, by the MP Dr. McNeill, and by the residents of the area, and the matter was never handled as this matter like the cemetery is now being handled. Isn't garbage disposal extremely important? It is not a case that there is no space left to bury the dead so why this approach, Mayor Morgan?
As the councillor for the area in which the Llandilo property falls, I strongly object and the people I represent strongly object, especially those living in and around the proposed cemetery site. Dr. Blythe's call to take over this matter and to form the committee himself, is a welcome one for me, especially since the committee will consist of:
1. A councillor from each of the three constituencies in the parish;
2. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor;
3. The Members of Parliament or their representatives;
4. A representative from the Ministry of Land & Environment;
5. A representative from the Ministry of Health;
6. The Superintendent of Roads & Works
In addition, the MP has planned to avert any crisis by taking the undermentioned steps:
1. Assessment of available space in the Tate Cemetery;
2. Arrangement with funeral home operators to acquire burial space, should the need arise;
3. Arrangement with churches having burial plots to acquire burial space, should the need arise.
I am, etc.,
DEVON THOMAS
Chairman,
North Savanna-la-Mar
PNP Division
& Councillor of North
Savanna-la-Mar Division
