On Saturday, THE PORTMORE STAR published a story about the planned construction of a town centre complex in Portmore. The story also quoted Portmore's mayor Keith Hinds as saying that, when completed, the building will boost Portmore's bid to become Jamaica's 15th parish.
Priority
THE STAR certainly understands the desire for Portmore to be a parish independent of St Catherine, however, there are a number of things that must be in place before this should even be considered.
For one, there is still no publicly run hospital and, as we know, all of the parishes have this. Although a hospital is being constructed in the area, it will be in private hands for some time. While a private hospital has its perks, one wonders if such a facility will be affordable to most of the residents of Portmore.
More jobs
Second, there is the need for a massive industrial park in Portmore in order to provide more jobs. At present, it is largely a dormitory area for Spanish Town and the Corporate Area. If it becomes a parish without this improvement, the community will continue to have its residents streaming out each day and not contributing to its development.
The push now should be for the construction of the public hospital, more fire stations and other public amenities. When those are in place, then Portmore will have an argument for being a parish. If such amenities are not put in place, it will possibly become nothing more than a parish in name only.
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