Mayor of Portmore Keith Hinds.

The Government is pushing ahead with its plan to make Portmore, located in St Catherine, the island's 15th parish and Prime Minister Bruce Golding is personally leading the charge.

While addressing a political rally in Portmore, in the lead-up to the September 2007 General Election, Golding had promised that the dormitory community would be accorded parish status.

That announcement was greeted with much scepticism as critics accused Golding of making the promise, as part of a desperate attempt to break the People's National Party's dominance in the two Portmore constituencies.

Two seats retained

But if that was Golding's plan, it gained little traction as the PNP retained the two parliamentary seats and control of the Portmore Municipal Council in the Local Government Elections, although the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate, Keith Hinds, was elected to chair the council.

However, weeks after the JLP's victory in the general election, Golding told Parliament his commitment to giving Portmore parish status was one that he was determined to keep.

At that time, Golding said discussions were under way with the Electoral Commission, the Portmore Municipality, the Attorney General's Department, and the National Land Agency, to arrive at a consensus on the boundaries of Portmore.

Yesterday, junior minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Robert Montague, told journalists that those discussions were far advanced.

But Montague was unable to give a timetable for the island's 15th parish to become a reality.

"The prime minister wanted to take the necessary legislative changes to Parliament long ago but he has been tempered by the constricts of the law and the work of the state agencies involved in the process," Montague said.

According to Montague, who has responsibility for local government, the Electoral Office is reviewing the constituency boundaries in Portmore because a parish has to have a minimum of two constituencies.

Montague said there has also been no decision on what would be the boundaries of the parish of Portmore.

But even as the prime minister waits for the state agencies to complete their work, Hinds, Portmore's mayor, wants the change implemented as quickly as possible.

Advocate

Hinds has long been an advocate for Portmore to be accorded parish status as a natural progression from it being a municipality.

"I think it is time that Portmore comes of age and be a force to be reckoned with in the national economy ," Hinds said.

According to Hinds, by making Portmore a parish, the Government would be opening the way for greater economic development in the area.