Claudia Gardner, Gleaner WriterHANOVER PARISH Development Committee members chastised Western Hanover Member of Parliament, Ralston Anson, during the committee's monthly meeting on Tuesday, for what they said was his substandard representation of the constituency in Parliament.
"We want to be properly represented in Parliament, so when you go there, represent our views," Desroy Gray, president of the Lucea United Vendors' Association, told Mr. Anson. "You must come here to the parish development committee meetings to listen and take our message to Parliament, because we elect you as our representative and that is what you are being paid for."
He added: "It is not reflecting well on the MP! Is mi good friend, but I think he should start reflecting the wishes of the people. You need to start doing something for Western Hanover."
Mr. Gray was joined by public relations officer of the Hanover Parish Council, Desmond Dorman, who demanded that Mr. Anson also make representations to the Ministry of Transport and Works, to replace the Bailey bridge on the Norman Manley Highway in the vicinity of Green Island. Both men also scolded the MP for not undertaking any major development project in the parish, since being elected in 2002.
'MAKE NOISE IN PARLIAMENT'
"I am not here in my capacity as public relations officer of the Hanover Parish Council," Mr. Dorman emphasised. "I am here as a citizen of the parish of Hanover! You see that Bailey bridge at Green Island! You must make noise in Parliament about it! We can't have a brand new highway with a Bailey bridge causing congestion in the middle of it! Go to the Ministry of Transport and Works and say we don't want no Bailey bridge!
The men's comments came after Mr. Anson complained about comments made by a committee member in the minutes of the previous month, that he was "not a pro-active MP" and told committee chairman Nerris Hawthorne that he was unaware of many of Lucea's solid waste problems, as he had "not been informed".
He had also said that he did not have any funds to purchase garbage skips for the town.
Mr. Anson, in his defence, told the meeting that he was having severe difficulties as his Social Economic Support Project (SESP) funds had been cut. He added that he could not commit himself to purchasing garbage skips for the town.
"MPs' SESP funds are not such that you can do this and that, because of the new thrust of local government," Mr. Anson said. "The funds which used to be available are no longer there for us. I am getting mine out of the Consolidated Fund; and last year, we were supposed to get $2.8 million and we did not get all of it."
