St Catherine MC toasts community stalwarts - COVID fears cancel Portmore event
Published:Tuesday | October 20, 2020 | 12:10 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
Six persons were honoured by the St Catherine Municipal Corporation and the Joint Civic Affairs Committee at a Heroes Day Civic and Awards ceremony in Emancipation Square, Spanish Town, yesterday.
Councillor Roogae Kirlew told The Gleaner that after an assessment of the prevailing COVID-19 situation, the organisers decided to have a scaled-down event to prevent a large gathering.
A similar event in Portmore, also in the parish, was cancelled by the Portmore Municipal Corporation out of an abundance of caution as it deals with a spike in cases in the municipality, particularly in the Waterford area.
“The municipal corporation and the Joint Civic Affairs Committee made a lot of changes to what would have been the normal course of events,” Kirlew said of yesterday’s ceremony in Spanish Town. “We honoured six persons instead of 10, and since we have the space, we were able to place the chairs six feet from each other to observe social distancing.”
Kirlew stated that sanitisation measures, including the cleaning of microphones after each speaker, were employed.
Among the six persons who received awards was TVJ correspondent Devon Fletcher for his work in the field of journalism, the first such award made by the committee.
“I was not working for an award. I go about my job in a professional manner, and I am elated that they could recognised my work and give me this award,” he told The Gleaner.
Also awarded were Esmilda McKenzie, wife of the custos of St Catherine; Donovan Smith; and Dawn Barham, for service in the field of community development. Jamaica Information Service officer Garfield Angus and Charmaine Richards-McDonald were also recognised for service to the education sector.
Messages were read from the governor general, prime minister and opposition leader.