HANOVER, Jamaica — As the festive glow of the Christmas season settles over Hanover’s parish capital, Mayor of Lucea, Sheridan Samuels is issuing a stern call for unity as he urges detractors to halt the “belittling” of the Hanover Municipal Corporation’s efforts to bring holiday cheer to the parish following a devastating hurricane in October.

The centrepiece of this year’s controversy — and celebration — is the new Christmas tree situated directly in front of the Municipal Corporation building. During the ceremony, Mayor Samuels addressed rumours regarding the appearance of the tree, noting that the corporation opted for a fresh start this year.

“You might have noticed that we are not using the tree over in the park, but we have bought a new one and placed it right in front of the municipal corporation building,” Samuels told those gathered for the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Bustamante Square on Tuesday.

“I know that you know when things look nice… I want you to look at that tree and don’t tell me that it doesn’t look nice. It is really looking good,” Samuels added.

The mayor, who also serves as chairman of the corporation, did not mince words for those who have criticised the scale or style of the decorations. He suggested that such detractors are lacking love for their parish.

People gathered for the Christmas tree lighting. The tree is located in the centre in front of the Hanover Municipal Corporation building located in Bustamante Square in Lucea.

“[It] is only people who don’t know when things look nice will go out there and criticise a very beautiful tree like that. If you can’t put on your clothes good, it means that you don’t know when things look good,” argued Samuels.

Samuels further challenged critics to document the beauty of the town rather than tear it down, as he invited such individuals to “come and take the picture and put it up [on social media] again.”

A few days ago, the corporation was contemplating how best to utilise and decorate the original tree that is currently damaged and is in need of pruning despite limited resources.

The tree was planted more than 35 years ago by the late James Lawrence who was the manager of the then Haughton Court Cocoa Fermentary in the parish.

The area where the tree was planted was named the James Lawrence Park in honour of Lawrence in 2022. At that time, Mayor Samuels noted that the tree had resulted in millions of dollars in savings to the corporation, as it was used as a Christmas tree.

Despite a severe cash flow shortage triggered by the widespread destruction of Hurricane Melissa, the ckmorporation was successful in hosting this year’s annual Christmas treat for children and tree lighting ceremony, thanks to a surge of support from private donors.

One pivotal donor is Omar McFarlane of the Jamaica Football Federation who provided $500,000 for the purchase of a [man-made] tree.

“While talking, we mentioned to Mr McFarlane that Hanover will not have a Christmas tree lighting this year. He then asked us why. I told him that because of the disaster that we have faced, we are facing some serious financial challenges and he said to us that he is going to make a contribution so that we can, at least, buy a tree because it is very expensive to prune the one in the park,” said Samuels.

Among the other donors were Sandals Foundation which provided gifts and toys for the children; the chief executive officer at LCH Developments, the developers of the Pinnacle in St James Yansen Lee, who donated toys and bags for the children; the Hanover Chamber of Commerce which provided snacks, the Grand Palladium Hotel and Milton Jarrett.

“I want to thank those who came on board and made significant contributions to our Christmas treat and Christmas tree lighting,” expressed a grateful Samuels.

— Anthony Lewis