CHAIRMAN of the St Ann Parish Council and Mayor of St Ann’s Bay Desmond Gilmore has called on the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) to do more in terms of maintaining Ocho Rios.

Gilmore said that the council is tasked with maintaining the town with very little resources, and believes that the TEF is in a position to spruce things up.

“Their funding comes from tourism and it’s a resort town and we as a council don’t benefit directly from tourism,” Gilmore said.

He said, while the agency has assisted in the past, he is hoping that there could be some form of agreement as a policy where certain projects to be done in the town will be undertaken by TEF. One example he gave was the cleaning of the town’s main drain.

He said that whether the TEF would do so through the council or through the Tourism Product Development Company was up to the organisation.

“TEF can do a whole lot more,” he reiterated.

Gilmore made the statement at the St Ann Chamber of Commerce members’ meeting held at the John McDowell Conference Centre in Ocho Rios on Wednesday, September 17.

Gilmore was speaking on the limited resources that the council works with to address situations across the parish.

In pointing to the dire situation that the council faces, Gilmore pointed out that the only water truck owned by the council was out of service

As the local governing body, he pointed out that there were things the council was unable to do, due to financial constraints. He said that the council gets funds through the collection of property tax, but only a “small” 7.25 per cent goes to the council.

The council, he said, also has its own income-generating sources, such as transportation centres and markets. However, that is still not enough to cover all that should be done, the Mayor went on.

In spite of the low resources, Gilmore said that the Council had been doing all that it can to improve areas under its portfolio.

Pointing to the severity of the challenges faced, Gilmore told stakeholders attending the meeting that the lack of the water truck had resulted in dire challenges for the people of St Ann.

He said that with St Ann being a large geographical area and with 70 per cent of the parish not supplied by water from the National Water Commission, it is the responsibility of the council to provide those people with water.

“The recent drought that we have just experienced…we have one truck and that truck worked seven days per week. Right now the truck is down because it needs a gearbox. It is almost a million dollars for it so we are not able to buy it,” he told members of the chamber during a presentation at a meeting.

He said that the council is often forced to prioritise due to the lack of funds.

Gilmore said that the Alexandria Police Station was out of water and the council was unable to assist. It was the Noranda Bauxite Partners, situated nearby, which assisted in trucking water to the station.

“This morning I got a call from the police station in Alexandria that they have no water, they have prisoners, and can we assist. And we did not even have a truck to respond,” he pointed out.

In the meantime, Gilmore has encouraged businesses to set themselves to take advantage of the newly opened leg of the North/South link highway.

“St Ann, as a parish… we are well placed. St Ann is rapidly becoming the centre of Jamaica. We are mid-point between the north coast. With the advent of the North/South link… I think that positions us very well in terms of goods and commerce,” he said.

Gilmore said that he was challenging businesses “to seize this opportunity that is available in whatever it is that you do in this parish in terms of your business.”

He pointed out that the time to travel to Kingston will be significantly shortened with the completion of the highway.