Brown-Burke

Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie has apologised to Angela Brown-Burke, minority leader in the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), for comments made by Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor for the Rae Town division, Rosalie Hamilton, at yesterday's KSAC meeting.

Hamilton, according to a release from the mayor, allegedly made critical statements about Brown-Burke.

"I apologise unreservedly for any embarrassment these comments may have caused you, and I am advising you that I intend to fully pursue this matter and will use my office to ensure that this does not happen again," McKenzie said in a letter to Brown-Burke yesterday afternoon.

During yesterday's meeting, fierce words were exchanged after a debate about crime took a turn for the worse.

Several People's National Party (PNP) councillors walked out of the meeting after the comments made by Hamilton.

Hamilton was responding to a statement made by McKenzie, who had spoken earlier in the meeting about crime. He had stated that crime "knows no colour" and that it would take unity for the country to defeat it.

After the mayor's comments, Hamilton asserted that this was not so as "I was shot for no other reason than because I wear green (JLP colours)".

This and other charges were not taken well by Brown-Burke who, along with her colleague Audrey Smith-Facey, became enraged. The three exchanged words before Brown-Burke and Smith-Facey walked out, taking most of the PNP councillors with them.

Active member

"Despite anything anybody wants to say, I am an active member of the Jamaica Labour Party," said Hamilton, who spoke with The Gleaner later in the day. "I am not involved in crime, corruption nor anything of the sort. I was simply shot because I wear the colour green."

Hamilton was shot in November of last year, less than two weeks before the local- government election.

McKenzie, who described Hamilton's behaviour as disgraceful, urged her to withdraw her statement and make a public apology to Brown-Burke and the council.

Yesterday, Brown-Burke could not be reached for comments.