LUCEA, Hanover — The landmark building, which houses the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), is badly in need of repair and Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels is seeking assistance in getting the job done.

The mayor made the plea after a resolution was passed, calling on the Ministry of Local Government to approve the HMC’s use of the Social Grant Revenue (SGR) to do repairs. The structure is located in Bustamante Square in Lucea.

Mayor Samuels told the regular monthly general meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation on Thursday that while the SGR is in hand, the ministry has to give approval before it can be used.

“I want the media to help us with this. I want the media to cry out to the ministry not to prevent us from getting the use of this one so that we can fix this building,” he urged.

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has control of the HMC and Samuels is hoping partisan politics will not get in the way of the project being approved.

“Probably, somewhat, someone will enjoy not giving us because it is seven of us and they probably don’t want us to operate from somewhere. So, let us see what will happen. We are Jamaicans just like any other municipal corporation,” he argued.

But Mayor Samuels noted that in a bid to ensure that the repairs are given priority, the local government ministry had already assigned a special projects officer to the HMC.

During the meeting Councillor Wynter McIntosh (PNP, Chester Castle Division) suggested that the corporation seek assistance from the Tourism Enhancement Fund.

Mayor Samuels accepted the suggestion, though he had originally explained that utilising the SGR is the only way forward. He said the HMC has been trying for some time now to have the building repaired as there was little confidence there would be any help coming from National Heritage Trust.

Made of cut stones on the ground floor and wood on the upper level, the building was constructed around 1840. It originally served as the parish court but after a new courthouse was constructed more than four decades ago, that paved the way for the stately structure to become the HMC’s home.

The clock tower, which is crowned by a helmet resembling that worn by the German Royal Guard, sits on the roof of the building. The clock, which was installed in 1817, was originally a gift from Germany to the people of the island of St Lucia but the ship captain mistakenly delivered it to the western town of Lucea.

“This is a very important building to us, the town and our history, very important. We don’t want it to reach a stage where even the clock has to fall from up there because it’s going to be dangerous if we don’t repair it,” stated Samuels.

He painted a picture of the challenging conditions under which staff have to work and his fear of working from his office.

“Yesterday at the enforcement department office where the municipal police and enforcement officers are housed, the roof came down. Both there and the planning department have been suffering,” explained Samuels.

The corporation lost the service of its air-conditioning (AC) unit during the passage of Hurricane Beryl in July. As a result, councillors wore white bush jackets to the corporation’s meeting on Thursday instead of the usual formal dress of jacket and tie.

“We are wearing this now and it is because of the state of the building. Our AC went because of the hurricane. Water gone into them [and did] a lot of damage. The admin department is in shambles. They don’t have any AC inside there either,” said the mayor.

For his part, Councillor Marvell Sewell (PNP, Green Island Division) suggested that the National Heritage Trust should play a greater role in having the building maintained. However, the HMC’s Chief Executive Officer David Gardener noted that while the corporation is responsible for maintaining the exterior of the building, any modification of the structure would require the trust’s approval.

Deputy Mayor of Lucea Andria Dehaney Grant suggested that it may be time for the corporation to start looking at having a new home and utilise the current building as a town hall for the parish.