WESTERN BUREAU – Montego Bay mayor Councillor Noel Donaldson has agreed to pursue talks with his counterpart in Perth, Scotland, with a view to having that city twinned with Montego Bay.

Donaldson made the announcement Thursday after receiving a plaque donated by the provost of Perth Bob Scott. The presentation was made on Scott’s behalf by Superintendent Ivan Brown who has responsibility for public relations for the police force in Area One.

Brown, who met with the provost while on a tour of the United Kingdom last month, told Donaldson the provost was very excited at the possibility of twinning the two cities.

“There was a tremendous amount of goodwill during our meeting, and after telling him about the city of Montego Bay he kindly gave me the Coat of Arms for Perth (the plaque) to hand over to you,” said the superintendent. “He was also very excited about the possibility of twinning the city of Perth to the city of Montego Bay,” he added.

Donaldson responded, saying he was appreciative of the gift and welcomed talks with the provost on twinning the cities.

“The notion of twinning the cities of Montego Bay and Perth is one that we will certainly pursue,” the mayor said, adding that the twinning of the cities could open up a range of opportunities for Montego Bay.

He cited tourism, trade and culture as areas in which the western resort city could garner benefits.

Montego Bay is currently twinned with Atlanta in the United States, and talks are now ongoing to have the town twinned with the City of Varadero in Cuba as well as with Hangzhou city in Zhejiang. Since the Atlanta-Montego Bay twinning in 1972, several trade delegations from Atlanta have visited the city to deepen economic cooperation between the Sister Cities, and for the last few years they have collaborated in staging annual health fairs in Montego Bay.