Discussions are to commence soon on a proposal for the municipality of Portmore to become the island’s 15th parish.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Desmond McKenzie tabled a motion at yesterday’s meeting of the House of Representatives for the establishment of a special select committee of Parliament to deliberate on the proposal.

Portmore received municipality status in 2003 under the Portia Simpson Miller Administration, through a repeal of section three of the Municipalities Act. In 2016, it was deemed a city under the Local Governance Act of 2016, and a 2018 local governance order saw it being renamed the Portmore city municipality.

The motion noted that Portmore’s demographics now warrant the municipality to receive parish status to focus on managing the town in order to achieve sustainable development. The motion also pointed to the potential revenue-generating benefits of Portmore becoming a parish.

The members of the special select committee, chaired by Member of Parliament (MP) for St Catherine South Central Andrew Wheatley, are: Justice Minister Delroy Chuck; Attorney General Marlene Malahoo Forte; minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister Everald Warmington; state minister for local government Homer Davis; state minister for entertainment, gender and culture, Alando Terrelonge; St Catherine South Eastern MP Robert Miller; St Catherine Southern MP Fitz Jackson; and St Catherine Eastern MP Denise Dailey.

The committee will sit jointly with a select committee from the Upper House.

Portmore is one of the largest urban areas in St Catherine, second to the parish capital, Spanish Town. Portmore’s first housing scheme was developed in 1969.

— Alphea Saunders