Newly installed Chairman of the St Ann Municipal Corporation (SAMC) and Mayor of St Ann’s Bay, Michael Belnavis, has called on all parochial councillors in the corporation to unite in working towards achieving further growth in St Ann.
Nearly four years after he resigned from the respective positions in a cloud of controversy, Belnavis, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Councillor for the Ocho Rios Division in St Ann North Eastern, was selected among his peers for a fresh stint.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won 11 of the 16 parochial divisions in the recent Local Government Election.
Belnavis replaced his colleague, Sydney Stewart of the Bamboo Division, who took over the mayoral position when Belnavis resigned in July of 2020 over allegations that he (Belnavis) had installed an electric vehicle charging port at the municipal corporation for his personal use, without seeking prior authorisation from the Local Government Ministry.
The Integrity Commission probed the matter, and stated that the action by Belnavis was inappropriate and amounted to an abuse of his power.
Still, Belnavis was cleared of wrongdoing and was not charged. The commission said he repaid the installation cost of $78,226.
There was also a claim relative to the reported use of public funding on a clean-up exercise in Ocho Rios while Belnavis was mayor, but that matter later seemingly fizzled.
With that cloud behind him, Belnavis was nominated and robed as Mayor of St Ann’s Bay for a second time.
In pointing to many positive things happening for the parish’s municipal corporation, Belnavis said all the councillors should work together alongside various stakeholders to ensure that the corporation’s various initiatives continue.
“It is so important that we recognise that the only way in which the municipal corporation can move forward in a room where political lines are drawn, is for us to move forward in one accord, and that accord can only be for the benefit of the people of St Ann,” said Belnavis.
“… And I believe that with the 15 councillors who we have here, to include myself as the 16th councillor, it can only be greatness if we work together,” the mayor declared.
Continuing, he said: “I have always heard councillors say, ‘I am voted in by the people of the particular division’.
“It is the people who we represent, and we… are servants, serving them, because at the end of the day, it’s not about us,” Belnavis indicated.
For his part, PNP Councillor for the Beecher Town Division in St Ann South Eastern, Ian ‘Trumpet’ Bell, said he hoped Belnavis’ utterances were not just talk.
“I am hoping that it is not just words, but it will be put in action because he (Belnavis) would have said it before when he was mayor prior to this occasion, and it didn’t happen,” Bell claimed.
He vowed that although there are only five PNP councillors, he will not “sit back” and let the others dominate the parish’s municipal corporation, as they (the PNP councillors) were also elected to represent the people.
At the swearing-in ceremony of all 16 councillors and the mayor, JLP Councillor for the Gibraltor Division, Cardell Wickham, was selected as Deputy Mayor of St Ann’s Bay and Vice Chairman of the SAMC.
