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The station has not announced a date for a by-election to fill the vacancy in the Morant Bay constituency in St Thomas since the death of councillor Rohan Bryan nearly three months ago.
Bryan, who was running for his second term as a candidate of the People’s National Party (PNP), died on May 1 of a heart attack.
The Gleaners After multiple checks, including with the St. Thomas Municipal Corporation, Brian’s death was recorded in the City Council minutes on May 9. He was buried on June 2.
Section 4(5) of the Local Governance Act, 2016 provides that a by-election in respect of a vacancy in any constituency must be held on the day on which an order is made by the Chairman of the Municipality in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer and published in the Gazette.
Section 4(5)(a) and (b) provides that this time must be within three months of the date on which the vacancy was recorded in the minutes of the Council or within three months of the date on which two persons entitled to vote in the last election of Councillors for that constituency gave written notice of the vacancy to the Chairman of the Municipal Corporation.
The Act further provides that a by-election shall not be held if a vacancy occurs within one year before the next general election. A general election in the Local Governance Act is defined as a general election of members of Parliament.
Jamaicans last voted in the local government elections in February.
effort The Gleaners Morant Bay Mayor Louis Chin, chairman of the St. Thomas Municipal Corporation, could not be reached for comment. Calls and messages to his cell phone went unanswered.
Chin has reportedly left the island.
try The Gleaners Efforts to reach Local Government and Community Development Minister Desmond McKenzie were also unsuccessful. He did not respond to calls or messages.
Michael McLeod, Dalvey councillor and deputy mayor of Morant Bay, told The Gleaners A meeting will be held to determine when the overdue notice will be issued.
“I told them at the last meeting that based on what happened with Hurricane Beryl, it’s very possible … because even in the bill it says if there’s a disaster, you can defer. But neither the secretary nor the councillors have specified x or y,” McLeod said.
He added: “I think they will meet soon and make a decision.”
Section 11(1)(c) of the Local Governance Act provides that if an election has been declared but there has occurred an earthquake, hurricane, flood, fire, outbreak of pestilence, outbreak of infectious disease or other disaster, whether similar to the foregoing or not, the Governor may, by proclamation, postpone the poll to some other date but not more than 30 days from the date specified in the notice of election.
But the specific date has not yet been announced.
Returning Director Glaspoor Brown told The Gleaners On Monday, he said consultations on the by-election date had not yet taken place, as required by law, and that a by-election budget had not yet been submitted.
Political commentator Lloyd B. Smith said the mayor’s lack of communication was a disservice to residents of the borough.
Smith, who was successfully elected to parliament as a member of the People’s National Party, noted that a political party would usually hesitate to announce a by-election when it was close to a general election.
He said the results of the national election, originally scheduled for September 2025, could be announced early next year.
“Any election held now would be seen as a referendum on the government. If, for example, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) failed to win, it could send the wrong signal,” Smith said.
“On the other hand, if the ANP wins, then it means the ANP is moving closer to the JLP in terms of overall political support. So I think that’s the backdrop to all this,” he said.
In the February elections, the Awami National Party won seats in four districts of the city, while the Justice and Workers Party won six.
However, Smith insisted that the mayor, as chairman of the municipal corporation, should act in accordance with the charter and regulations governing the corporation.
“Just end this. This is not fair to the people, especially after what happened in Beryl, who need local representatives to fully and effectively represent them. This is a disservice to the people. It also shows a lack of respect and disrespect for the democratic process,” he said.
However, Dr Paul Ashley noted that the People’s National Party believes that the lack of motivation for a change shows that the opposition is focused on the general election.
He said that seemed to be the party’s only concern at the moment.
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