Independent Westmoreland councillors deny collusion with JLP

 

Newly appointed Deputy Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar and Councillor for the Little London Division in Westmoreland, Ian Myles, is rejecting assertions that he and the other independent councillors have been colluding with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

 

The assertions were made by the People's National Party (PNP) following Thursday's meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation where a motion was brought by JLP councillors to have Danree Delancy removed as Deputy Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar.

 

It was carried with a vote of seven for and four against.

 

Mr. Myles, one of three councillors who resigned from the PNP on Monday, was then appointed to the post.

 

The resignation of the three councillors shifted the balance of power in the corporation to five PNP, four JLP and three independent councillors.

 

But Mr. Myles has denied the suggestions that he and the other two councillors plan to join the JLP. 

 

"As it is now, we have not had any discussion. We are independent. We remain independent as we speak," he claimed, chiding PNP General Secretary Dr. Dayton Campbell for making "baseless" statements that he and the others were secretly scheming with the JLP.

 

"How can you say that it's evident that we have been colluding with the JLP? That makes sense? And this is the thing with [Campbell].... Someone needs to sit him down and tell him you need to take a backward step and allow the party's process and the party's procedures to continue," he asserted. 

 

Mr. Myles was speaking Thursday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines.

 

Garfield James, Councillor for the Sheffield Division, who also resigned from the PNP on Monday, said the decision of the now independent councillors to support Thursday's motion was not motivated by ill-will towards the PNP but rather in the interest of good governance. 

 

"It's not about spite, because remember, in a democracy it is critical that you have good opposition, because good opposition will facilitate good governance. So it is not a day in the life of us here in Jamaica, and the People's National Party for us to celebrate. It is really something that the country and those who are interested in politics should learn from," insisted Mr. James, who was also a guest on Beyond the Headlines. 

 

Lawton McKenzie of the Grange Hill Division is the third councillor who resigned from the PNP on Monday.