MONTEGO BAY, St James — After a broadside against calls for a red light district from the president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Government Senator Charles Sinclair has called on the St James Municipal Corporation to have a sit-down with the group of business leaders to find a way to harness their clout in effectively working for the good of the city.

“I am going to raise a very sensitive topic – and I hope that I am not stepping on anybody’s corn – [but] sometimes some things [must] be said. I am seeing some commentary coming from an organisation that I view as one of our critical stakeholders and I am referring directly to the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce,” said Senator Sinclair during the regular monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation. Sinclair was speaking in his capacity as councillor for the Montego Bay North Eastern Division.

“The chamber of commerce… should, as part of their mandate, be seeking to bring into [its] fold… the various businesses that are operating in Montego Bay. But I see some comments coming from the present president of the chamber of commerce… that [make me] think we need to probably bring them a little closer,” he suggested.

He blasted Chamber President Janet Silvera for her suggestion that some of the $150 million earmarked for the development of Jimmy Cliff Boulevard be used to regularise the services being offered by sex workers along the strip. Silvera, who made the comments during an interview with the Jamaica Observer, had made it clear that she was expressing her personal views. Prostitution is illegal in Jamaica.

“What I am saying at this point [is] instead of just chatting up your mouth, come and sit down with something that is constructive,” Sinclair snarled during the meeting.

He pointed to work being done in other municipalities across the island through partnerships with their respective chambers of commerce and questioned why that is not being done in the second city.

“You go to downtown Kingston and I see persons who are there putting out pictures, where they have murals that are painted on some buildings. Buildings that were old, they just fix up the front and then they paint some murals of people playing music and they have done landscaping, putting in the coloured tiles on the roadway. When I saw it I thought about even down in the same pedestrian lane that we have here, we could do something like that. And I said, in Kingston you have the downtown Kingston [redevelopment project] engaging with the municipal corporation, why we cannot do it? Why we not doing anything down here?” he questioned.

Sinclair urged mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Leeroy Williams to reach out to the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce in a bid to have the two parties meet and come to an understanding on the development of Montego Bay.

“Let us try to engage the chamber because I think we have a more critical part to play. And let us point them to what is contained in the Local Governance Act [so] they can sit down, engage, bring to the table and say ‘Yes, as business people we want this area to [be] declared [as] a business improvement district.’ Under this legislation, create and develop the plan and let us see how we are going to fund it,” he said.