Dear Editor,
I have noted with much concern the current brouhaha surrounding the renaming of the Cornwall Regional Hospital to the Dr Herbert Eldemire Regional Hospital in the wake of a report in the media that Chairman of the St James Parish Council and Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Glendon Harris, had indicated that public consultation should take place prior to any final decision.
This after a Cabinet decision had been gazetted and enjoyed assent from both PNP and JLP administrations.
As member of parliament of the constituency of St James Central in which that multi-disciplinary institution is situated, I am proposing that rather than a consultation with parishioners, there should be a well-designed and effectively implemented public education campaign to fully apprise the general citizenry, many of whom are not sufficiently aware of the tremendous contribution "Mas' Herbie" made to this country in his capacity as a former minister of health.
No well-thinking and informed Jamaican should oppose the renaming of the hospital in honour of Dr Herbert Eldemire. In this vein, I telephoned a senior member of the Eldemire family to offer my sincere sympathy for the embarrassment the ongoing controversy has caused, to the extent that there is now a decision dissociating them from any such exercise.
Let me hope that good sense will prevail in this matter, which has also been further embroiled in another bangarang with respect to a JLP move to disregard a Cabinet and gazetted decision to name a section of the Bogue main road in Montego Bay the "AGS Coombs Highway". As a result, rancid political partisan behaviour has erupted in and outside the St James Parish Council.
I urge Mayor Glendon Harris and former Mayor Charles Sinclair to rise above the fray in order to have these two matters resolved amicably and with desired results.
Two wrongs cannot make it right.
Lloyd B Smith
Member of Parliament
St James Central
Rise above the fray
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I have noted with much concern the current brouhaha surrounding the renaming of the Cornwall Regional Hospital to the Dr Herbert Eldemire Regional Hospital in the wake of a report in the media that Chairman of the St James Parish Council and Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Glendon Harris, had indicated that public consultation should take place prior to any final decision.
This after a Cabinet decision had been gazetted and enjoyed assent from both PNP and JLP administrations.
As member of parliament of the constituency of St James Central in which that multi-disciplinary institution is situated, I am proposing that rather than a consultation with parishioners, there should be a well-designed and effectively implemented public education campaign to fully apprise the general citizenry, many of whom are not sufficiently aware of the tremendous contribution "Mas' Herbie" made to this country in his capacity as a former minister of health.
No well-thinking and informed Jamaican should oppose the renaming of the hospital in honour of Dr Herbert Eldemire. In this vein, I telephoned a senior member of the Eldemire family to offer my sincere sympathy for the embarrassment the ongoing controversy has caused, to the extent that there is now a decision dissociating them from any such exercise.
Let me hope that good sense will prevail in this matter, which has also been further embroiled in another bangarang with respect to a JLP move to disregard a Cabinet and gazetted decision to name a section of the Bogue main road in Montego Bay the "AGS Coombs Highway". As a result, rancid political partisan behaviour has erupted in and outside the St James Parish Council.
I urge Mayor Glendon Harris and former Mayor Charles Sinclair to rise above the fray in order to have these two matters resolved amicably and with desired results.
Two wrongs cannot make it right.
Lloyd B Smith
Member of Parliament
St James Central
Rise above the fray
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