WESTERN BUREAU — There is no slowing down for Erica DeSilva. The newly elected president of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay has a lot of ideas and big plans.

And now that the former councillor for the Montego Bay Central Division is out of representational politics, after opting not to run again after a four-year term, she has more time to pursue other activities.

“I’m going back to do my masters in counselling,” she told the Observer. “My focus will be on grief counselling for children because so much is happening to our children today,” said the grandmother of three.

Last Friday, DeSilva was installed as the first female president of the Montego Bay Rotary Club, which only began accepting female members five years ago.

She plans to accomplish a lot in her new role; just as she tried to get the job done when she was a councillor.

“What people will remember me by is my commitment to helping people,” she mused. “I was always visible and always ready to serve.”

She pointed out that even with the lack of resources, she was still able, as a local government representative, to implement projects. Some of these projects included working with Food for the Poor to provide housing solutions to the very poor in her division, putting in street lights and pressing for road repairs.

But the slow process of the much-touted local government reform has disappointed her. “Everything you need the permission of the Ministry of Local Government,” she said. “Parish Councils won’t achieve anything unless we are serious about local government reform.”

And DeSilva is adamant that more could be done at the local level if more funds were allocated to the St James Parish Council to do more than the expected cleaning of the drains and other parochial projects.

Of the new Council she says: “They have to be serious about local government reform so they can achieve more.”