LUCEA, Hanover

The Lucea business community is moving to revive the Hanover Chamber of Commerce which has been dormant for more than three years.

To this end, a steering committee, headed by banker Kelvin Hall, was recently established to oversee the affairs of the business community, before formal election of officers is held later this year.

“One of the things that I found difficult is that whenever I would call the [Hanover] Parish Council or any other body, it would be only me. If I call about having power outages, it is just me alone, and I alone cannot make much change. So, a group of us started talking and I found out that there are other members in the business community who are so interested [in reviving the chamber] too,” explained Hall.

The Jamaica Observer West was told that the chamber became dormant in 2011 due mainly to the migration of members of the group.

According to Hall, late last year a group consisting of 10 individuals got together, and after making enquiries, some of the original directors of the chamber who were contacted, expressed a desire to revive the chamber.

Since then, he said, a steering committee consisting of six persons was mandated to mobilise the business community, and at a later date, put in place a new board.

The committee has also reconnected with the national body, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, who has been providing support to the group.

Hall said the chamber will be advocating for a number of projects for the parish, including improvements to the aesthetics of the capital town, Lucea.

“What I can tell you is that the overarching theme for us as members of the chamber is to ensure that we get some little nuances out of the way, so as to get the town more presentable and be something that a business person and also an individual would want to associate themselves with,” he emphasised.

“And so, the cleanliness of the town, proper keeping of the sidewalks, proper disposal of garbage and sewage are some of the things that we want to do,” added Hall, who is also the president of the Rotary Club of Lucea as well as

the manager of the National Commercial Bank , Lucea branch.

-Anthony Lewis