MONTEGO BAY, St James – Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce president Pauline Reid has blasted several state agencies – including the St James Parish Council – for what she described as the “shabby and depressed state” of this resort city.

“This city remains dirty and reeks with odour, while no work has been carried out by the St James Parish Council which has become totally inefficient and has literally abandoned the town,” said Reid in a terse statement Wednesday.

“I am disappointed with the nonchalant and lackadaisical attitude displayed by the powers that be in preparing the city for the winter tourism season,” she added.

Reid said that efforts by her organisation to forge ahead with a clean-up campaign, which began in July, have proven futile because the agencies with the responsibility claim to lack funds.

“Lack of funding should not be an excuse to (not) achieve a clean city status. The agencies just don’t have the will to move Montego Bay to the next level,” she said.

The chamber head also chided the ministry of transport and works for the undue delays in travelling along the Montego Bay to Greenside segment of the North Coast Highway, and for the traffic congestion on the Bogue to Montego Bay main road.

“On any given day, it takes close to two hours to get from Bogue into the heart of the city. Repeated complaints by the chamber, and a letter to Minister of Tourism (Aloun Assamba) and Works (minister) Robert Pickersgill has guaranteed no response,” Reid said.

She has called on the tourism ministry to release the more than $40 million earmarked through the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) to undertake beautification projects in the city.

On Wednesday, Noel Donaldson who chairs the St James Parish Council expressed shock and outrage at Reid’s broadside against the local authority.

“I am shocked and amazed at her comment, which bears absolutely no relation to the truth,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that Miss Reid is well aware that the council has been working in conjunction with TPDCo (Tourism Product Development Company), but there are aspects of the work to be done that awaits the necessary funding,” he added.

Donaldson, also Montego Bay’s mayor, said that the chamber president is also aware that the collection of garbage in Montego Bay is the sole responsibility of the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

“I am, therefore, amazed that the president of the chamber of commerce would seek to gain mileage and publicity from this unwarranted attack on the parish council,” the mayor said.

Junior tourism minister Wykeham McNeil said, meanwhile, that the TEF board has approved $41.5 million to undertake projects in Montego Bay in preparation for the ICC World Cup. But the necessary “government procedures” are yet to be completed.

“While we are hoping that the implementation process will happen as quickly as possible, we have to ensure that the government guidelines for procurement are strictly (adhered) to,” McNeil said.