HANOVER, Jamaica – Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels has accused Member of Parliament for Hanover Eastern (Jamaica Labour Party) Dave Brown of playing politics with a planned ceremony for the official opening of the new Hopewell Police Station on Friday.

The retrofitted building which is leased by the Jamaica Constabulary Force belongs to the Hanover Municipal Corporation.

Arguing that the corporation is a stakeholder, Mayor Samuels was peeved that invitations for the planned ceremony were coming from Brown.

“How is it that the MP is going to invite us to our own function? He is not going to get any political mileage out of it,” stated Samuels during the sitting of the regular monthly general meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation on Thursday.

Initially, Mayor Samuels who is also the chairman of the People’s National Party majority- led corporation asked the councillor for the Hopewell Division (PNP) Lennox Fray, if he had received an invitation to which he replied ‘yes’.

The mayor then asked, who was it from, to which Fray replied that it was from the secretary for National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang.

“Sounds like a good move… And, you are certain that it is the secretary that called you from the Ministry of National Security?” questioned Samuels, to which Fray replied, ‘yes.’

The mayor then asked the CEO of the municipal corporation, David Gardner if the corporation had received an official invitation.

In response, Gardner said two days ago the ministry had contacted the corporation and a comprehensive list of names was submitted. He said he is expecting people who did not receive their invitation to get theirs soon.

Gardener also said he had received a call from the office of the Member of Parliament on Thursday morning asking for email addresses to be submitted.

Similarly, Mayor Samuels said he too received a phone call from the MP’s office to inform him that he is invited to the opening ceremony.

“I am wondering if they are politicising this event because we are the ones that actually go all out knowing that the station is needed there. We have been following-up and rented our building for a peppercorn [fee]. We gave up this asset that we were collecting thousands for [in rent] because we know that it is needed in Hopewell.

“You want to tell me that because councillor Devon Brown (JLP) is not the councillor again, the Member of Parliament took over and politicising the whole event and extending [an] invitation to us who are stakeholders?” questioned Samuels, who added, “I don’t think I am going.”

In July 2021, the corporation decided to forgo an annual revenue of $251,000 for the property to facilitate the establishment of the well-needed station in this coastal town.

However, before the lawmen could occupy the building, renovation work was done to the structure, which was previously occupied by the Electoral Office of Jamaica which at that time was paying $252,000 per annum for a section of the building it utilises. However, with Hopewell fast becoming a crime hotspot and the nearest police station located approximately three and a half miles away in Sandy Bay, the corporation had decided to lease the property to the police for a peppercorn rate of $1,000 per year for 50 years.

The station is expected to serve some 21 districts which are currently included in the 51 communities that the Sandy Bay Police Station currently serves.

Dr Chang is slated to give the main address at the opening ceremony on Friday afternoon.

–   Anthony Lewis