Portmore pushes for control of proposed parish lands

The Portmore Municipal Council is calling for the Government to hand it immediate administrative responsibility for the area earmarked to become Jamaica’s newest parish under the Counties and Parishes (Amendment) Act, 2025.

The call came at the council’s general meeting yesterday, where Deputy Mayor Alric Campbell tabled a resolution, backed by Mayor Leon Thomas and fellow councillors, calling on Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie to transfer administrative control of the proposed parish boundaries to the council ahead of the legislation’s full implementation.

At issue is the growing number of residential and commercial developments within the designated area. Campbell argued that Portmore risks inheriting responsibility for maintaining roads, public spaces, and other municipal services without receiving the fees generated during the development phase.

“The local authority will be left with delivering the services and maintaining these development on the coming of the act, and we would not have collected any of the initial fees associated with the new developments,” Campbell said.

The Counties and Parishes (Amendment) Act was passed by both Houses of Parliament in 2025 and provides for the creation of Portmore as Jamaica’s 15th parish. Its implementation, however, has been delayed by court proceedings arising from a challenge filed by the opposition People’s National Party (PNP).

The Supreme Court accepted the Government’s undertaking not to bring the legislation into force until certain conditions were met, including the establishment of electoral boundaries by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ). The PNP had argued that the parish could not be created without the ECJ’s involvement in determining those boundaries.

Campbell nevertheless maintained that Portmore’s elevation to parish status is only a matter of time. Pointing to the ECJ’s ongoing work, he argued that the outstanding requirements are expected to be satisfied.

“Despite the Supreme Court of Jamaica issuing a consent order accepting the government unequivocal undertaking not to establish an operational date for the act until certain procedures are carried out, it will no doubt come into effect after the next general election,” he said.

Against that backdrop, Campbell is seeking an interim arrangement under which the Portmore Municipal Council would assume administrative responsibility for all land within the proposed parish boundaries before the act takes effect.

He contended that the council should not be expected to maintain and service future communities while development fees continue to flow to the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, which currently retains administrative authority over the area.

The resolution, therefore, calls on the Government to establish an interim arrangement to transfer responsibility for the designated parish area immediately, allowing Portmore to collect development-related fees and prepare for the eventual assumption of full municipal functions once parish status is formally implemented.

ruddy.mathison@gleanerjm.com