Byron McDaniel, Gleaner Writer
Audley Shaw - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A NUMBER of constituents in several communities of North East Manchester have cited a lack of transparency in the disbursement of Member of Parliament Audley Shaw's SESP fund.
While these sentiments ran predominantly along party lines, the respondents were unable to dispute any item on a list of expenditures provided by the MP's office.
"In my area, Cobla-Limit, I see nothing at all. There is no community council in place. Therefore, there is no transparency at all," said a man who admitted being an opposing party activist.
Effie Malcolm, a social worker of Christiana, said the MP does a lot especially in the field of education. She mentioned Holmwood Technical High School as a prime example of his attention. "You can ask the principal," she advised.
At Craighead, two responses were canvassed. One farmer said, "Mr. Shaw promise wi citrus and animal rearing, but the road from Granville-Troy very poor. Him grant something to the schools and assist with a few burials, but since the hurricane, nothing no done fi wi."
The other respondent said, "My name is Camrad Blake. I am the chairman of this division for the (People's National Party) PNP. Neither the councillor nor MP Audley Shaw can show us anything that they do. Since the hurricane and up to now, the area has not been visited by Mr. Shaw. Tomorrow morning (June 2) we will be demonstrating against the partiality of the MP and the condition of the Dobson Road which has been in a deplorable state for over nine years now."
DEMONSTRATION
That demonstration did take place on Thursday, June 2.
A social worker and community leader at Allison said, "For the longest while we have not seen any representative. In all fairness, though, the MP help in cost-sharing, one and two people get help but there is no community council and there is no transparency."
There were respondents from Chudleigh who said they have heard many persons complaining. A senior citizen said, "Even the community centre, is the 4H Club fix it." When asked if the MP had given a stove to the centre, he said "A mussi so."
At Silent Hill, one Mr. Stephenson said, "As president of the Coleyville branch of the Jamaica Agricultural Society, there is no help. It is very poor."
Stanhope Scott, chief executive officer of the Percy Junor Public Hospital, said the MP has been generous to the institution and recently donated $100,000 to its tiling fund; while several schools have confirmed that they received assistance from his SESP Funds.
From the enquiries made by The Gleaner in various communities and institutions, the consensus was that although disbursement of the MP's SESP fund lacks transparency, no item on his audited expenditure list of $2,624,499.00 has been disputed.
