Westmoreland — People’s National Party councillor Ivan “Bob” Pinnock is hopping mad at the long time it is taking the Westmoreland Parish Council to procure Urban Development Corporation-owned lands on which to build a cemetery for the Whitehouse area.

At the last sitting of the all-PNP Council, Pinnock vociferously made the point that his patience was “running out”. The matter of a cemetery for Whitehouse has been an agenda item on the books of the Council for many years.

The UDC, the agency that owns the 30-acre site identified for the purpose, initially indicated a willingness to sell the Council the land for a little more than $1 million, but later indicated that it wanted to enter into a land exchange deal.

However, the state agency explained that a survey was being conducted, after which a decision would be taken on what to do with the land.

And despite appeals for the intervention of Prime Minister P J Patterson, in whose constituency the area falls, the Council appears to be getting no closer to getting a cemetery for Whitehouse.

“The people of Whitehouse want to know who is Prime Minister of Jamaica — (UDC boss) Vin Lawrence or PJ Patterson. We will not put up with any more delaying tactics from Lawrence. My patience is running out,” said an angry councillor Pinnock.

Councillors Delford Morgan and Earl Brooks both threw their full support behind Pinnock as they, too, bemoaned the long time it was taking the UDC to give the Council the final word on the land. They added that Councillor Pinnock must be backed by the entire Council, which should now take charge of the identified site, and advise the people of the area to bury their dead there.