Wright’s replacement ruffles feathers at WMC meeting

WESTERN BUREAU:

Councillor Dawnette Foster, who has taken over from George Wright as the Jamaica Labour Party caretaker for Westmoreland Central, recently ruffled political feathers in the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC) when she raised questions about the building plan for the construction of a house in Petersfield by the People’s National Party (PNP) under the O.T. Fairclough Trust fund.

“Where is that building plan?” said Foster, who is a part of the JLP minority in the WMC. “I would like you to tell me where that plan is, because I don’t want to know that there is a rule for some and another rule for others.”

The PNP has embarked on a plan to complete a one-bedroom, concrete house in Petersfield, under the O.T. Fairclough Trust fund for hairdresser Davian Hopwood, a party supporter for over three decades.

The fund was launched last December in honour of activist and founding father of the PNP, Osmond Theodore Fairclough, who was integral to the drive to support struggling party workers in need of housing, healthcare, education, and a boost in entrepreneurship.

The construction of a house for Hopwood is the first project to be carried out under the O.T. Fairclough Trust fund.

However, in raising concerns about the building plan, Foster argued that it can’t be right for Savanna-lar-Mar Mayor Bertel Moore, who leads the PNP majority in the WMC, to be working in tandem with Opposition Leader Mark Golding in a construction project for which there seems to be no building plan.

“At the last planning [committee] meeting, I asked for a plan for the house that is being built in Petersfield, under the O.T. Fairclough foundation, where I saw the opposition leader and you, Mr Mayor, building a house for a lady in Petersfield, and I have received no response,” said Foster, who stood her ground amid much uproar from PNP councillors.

“If you [Bertel Moore] are the leader of this corporation and you are encouraging citizens to pay for their building plans, I want to know where that plan is,” continued Foster.

In seeking to justify the PNP’s stance, Devon Thomas, the councillor for the North Savanna-la-Mar division, expressed disappointment in the request for the building plan, arguing that the construction of the house in question started more than 15 years ago but was halted because of hard times.

“Your Worship, I am very surprised at this request. Councillor Foster came to the meeting and asked for the information and by the next day, I received a call saying that the information is on Facebook. I said to the councillor that this foundation is about 15 years old. The lady started it and couldn’t finish it,” said Thomas, who chairs the WMC’s physical planning, environment, and development committee.

Moore, who stayed out of the uproar, subsequently ruled that the matter was not properly brought before the corporation’s general meeting, as it had not come by way of a recommendation from the planning committee.

“I am very disappointed. Something about a plan should come to our planning meeting, not at this general meeting, so I think this is really not the time for something like this. Take it to our planning committee,” urged Moore.

“If it was something that came from the planning committee meeting to the council, then it could be heard, but there is no recommendation from that committee, so it should not have been brought up here,” Moore ruled. “When you come to the planning meeting, I will direct and guide you.”