PUBLISHER Lloyd B Smith has dismissed rumours that he will be a candidate in the upcoming general elections, but made it clear that he would be interested in the post of mayor of Montego Bay if the town’s leader was directly elected.

“What I’d love to see is for mayors to be elected directly. If that comes about, of course I would be interested because I think I would do a damn fine job for MoBay, and I say that without any hesitation. Even if it sounds conceited, I’m gonna say it,” he told the Observer. At the same time, he stressed that he would not be selling himself for the post. “I’m not campaigning for any political positions right now because it’s not my style,” said he. Adding: “I believe if people want you, they want you. If they don’t want you, they don’t.”

Under the current system, elected councillors come together and select a mayor, but Smith might not have long to wait for his chance to try and grab the mayoral seat. Under the second phase of local government reform, there are plans afoot to make drastic changes to the existing structure. These changes would see the 14 parishes grouped into four regional entities and mayors would be directly elected by constituents.

If these proposed changes take effect, and Montegonians were to elect Smith mayor, he claimed his first project would be to unite the various interests in the city.

“First of all, Montego Bay needs to be united,” he remarked. “I think there are too many disparate forces out there going in different directions with people with different agendas,” he explained. “I think I have the ability to go out there and bring these persons and different forces together, and I would hope that we would fashion a vision as to where we want to go and how we want to get there,” he added.

Smith said he would also work to have regular cleaning and beautification programmes in place in the second city as well as lobby central government for a solution to the squatter problem.

“I would lobby for regularisation of the squatter settlements. And when we talk about regularise, I’m not just talking about giving them land titles but going into the communities and creating the sort of environment that downtown Montego Bay has,” he stressed. “They should have streets properly named, a little park here and there, a community centre, that sort of thing so when you go into a community like Glendevon or Norwood you’ll feel like you’re entering a community and not just a block of houses where people live.”

Smith added that on the economic front, he would concentrate on various forms of tourism including sports and culture, as well as setting up a marina to attract wealthy yacht owners. “I have ideas and my approach would be a hands-on approach,” he continued. “I’m not just saying things, I would be out there doing them and rolling up my sleeves and getting involved in the dirty work that has to be done. It’s up to the people to decide who they want but if I’m alive and well that’s one thing that I would not hesitate to throw my hat into the ring for.”

Smith unsuccessfully ran in South St James on a Jamaica Labour Party ticket in the 1997 general elections and there have been recent rumours that he is being courted by the two main political parties. But according to him, he has been turned off by indications that the country had returned to “old time politics”.