DEAR... re-elected unopposed

WESTERN BUREAU - Montego Bay developer and land surveyor, Winston Dear was on Wednesday re-elected unopposed as chairman of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The 64 year-old Dear will be supported on the chamber's executive body by first vice president, Mark Hart; second vice president, Leroy Reid; and third vice president, Stephen Dear. Eight new directors were also appointed at Wednesday's annual general meeting of the chamber. They include two former vice presidents, Lee Bailey and Mark Kerr-Jarrett.

Meanwhile Dear said that the chamber would be campaigning on a number of issues over the next year. They will include:

. the introduction of casino gambling;

. an international conference centre for Montego Bay; and

. the proposed multi-faceted sports stadium for Trelawny to
host the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

At the same time, he told reporters that the chamber would not be taking on the responsibility of street cleaning or the upgrading of the inner-city communities. The chamber has been severely criticised for not doing enough for the inner city communities and the beautification of Montego Bay but on Wednesday Dear made it clear that it was not the responsibility of his organisation to carry out these functions.

"We certainly would not be going after cleaning up the city because that it is the parish council's function and we would not be putting up ourselves in the front to upgrade any communities," the chamber president said.

He however noted that the chamber had, on several occasions, provided assistance to a number of community projects.

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