MAYOR of Portmore Leon Thomas has slammed the Andrew Holness Administration for what he says has been the Government’s unilateral approach towards establishing the municipality as a parish.

Government used its majority in the Lower House on Tuesday to pass the Counties and Parishes Amendment Act 2025, making Portmore the 15th parish of Jamaica. The passing of the Bill, if approved by the Senate, will also end the direct election of the mayor of Portmore

Thomas believes that the move is a “backward step” that is diametrically opposed to the principles of democracy in the interests of the people.

“What surprised me is that the prime minister came to Portmore and said at the ground-breaking ceremony at the Portmore Resilience Park [in 2024], that he was going to put off the naming of the 15th parish until wider consultations were done with residents so that they can be comfortable with the decision. After that pronouncement, there is nothing more that he has done other than head to Parliament to make this decision,” Thomas told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

The Bill, which was piloted by Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie, was passed despite stiff opposition from the People’s National Party (PNP) which accused the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) of gerrymandering, while threatening court action.

“This is a clear case of political gerrymandering,” Thomas said.

“I am not surprised because Everald Warmington had made it clear they were going to do it because they want to control the St Catherine Parish Council. They had said it in the press at a political meeting at Cedar Grove Academy.

“Dr Andrew Wheatley had also made it clear that they were going to do it, so both gentlemen had spoken to the matter so this move didn’t surprise me,” Thomas added.

In recent months, concerns have been raised by the Opposition regarding the naming of Portmore as Jamaica’s 15th parish. St Catherine South Member of Parliament Fitz Jackson had accused the Holness administration of unilaterally trying to establish a parish without the input of the Electoral Office of Jamaica and, as a result, cutting off voters from his constituency.

Thomas said that the Government’s decision has stymied and frustrated the wishes of the “14,000 people who voted for a mayor in the last local government elections”. Hence, he plans to pursue legal action to block the move.

“Other than Portmore, there is no municipality in the English-speaking Caribbean who has the opportunity to vote directly for their mayor. The residents of Portmore have fought long and hard to obtain this aspect, to vote for who they want to lead them. In the other municipal corporations, the politicians sit and nominate someone to be the mayor and that sometimes does not reflect the people’s choice,” Thomas said.

He pointed to the leadership struggle in the Clarendon Municipal Corporation to underline his point.

“If the method we have in Portmore were introduced in the other municipal corporations, the situation we have in May Pen now would not exist,” he said.

He said the Government should be seeking to replicate the method of choosing the mayor that Portmore has adopted in other municipalities.

“We have been talking about voting for a president, and if we’re thinking along that line, why are you going to revert from a method where people are voting directly for a mayor? It is a contradiction in philosophy,” Thomas said.

In 2022, Prime Minister Andrew Holness affirmed a commitment to republicanism upon taking office and stated his Cabinet would introduce a bill to replace the Queen with “a non-executive president as head of State”. To this end, the Constitutional Reform Committee was established in March 2023 at the Office of the Prime Minister.

In the meantime, Holness said that the Government’s intention to create a new political administration for Portmore has nothing to do with trying to gain a political advantage. This will be the first time since 1867 that a new parish is being created.

Meanwhile, Markland Edwards, who represented the Jamaica Labour Party in last year’s mayoral elections, hailed the move as ‘transformative’, and suggested that the designation was “a recognition of Portmore’s rapid urbanisation and socio-economic significance”.

“Portmore has long been deserving of this recognition, and while this is a historic moment, the real work begins now,” Edwards said in a release.

“I remain dedicated to advocating for the people, ensuring that this new status brings real progress, sustainable development, and an improved quality of life for every resident. The future is bright for Portmore, and I look forward to the day when I can directly contribute to shaping its path forward,” he continued.

Edwards said that this designation will grant Portmore certain “key advantages”, among them, an independent budget allocation, which will ensure more direct funding for local projects and services.

­— Claude Mills