Expo ties in with city status celebration

Melville Cooke, Hospitality Jamaica Writer

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ago, Montego Bay was declared a city, the bill making the transformation from township being passed on September 30, 1980.

A quarter of a century later, within a week of the anniversary of the passage of that bill, the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry annual trade exposition 2005 ties in perfectly with the week long celebrations of the town's city status.

The city celebrations begin on Sunday, October 2, with the last three days dovetailing with the three days of the expo, which is paying special tribute to the tourism capital through its theme 'Montego-Bay ­ the Gateway to the Caribbean'.

In fact, Expo 2005 is listed among the official celebratory events and the St. James Parish Council will have a booth at the Montego Bay Cruise Ship Terminal, where no doubt there will be lots of information about not only the city, but the parish as a whole.

A total of 100 booth holders are expected to showcase their products showcasing the island's diversity in manufacturing, information technology, E-services, art and craft, air and ground transportation, tourism, insurance, education, agriculture and financial services.

Expo 2005 comes at a time when the city of Montego Bay seeks to prove it is deserving of the coveted status.

The bill to proclaim Montego Bay a city was introduced by the Minister of Local Government, Ralph Brown, who said that as Montego Bay had become the focal point of many activities in western Jamaica, it should enjoy the status of 'city'.

With the People's National Party (PNP) still forming the government, ahead of the tumultuous 1980 General Election in which the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) would win a landslide victory, there was opposition from across the other side of the divide at Gordon House.

Brown fended off suggestions that the introduction of the bill was connected with plans by the PNP to stage a major event in Montego Bay later that same week. Instead, Brown said the move originated from the people of St. James, who had made a representation through their parish council to have the status of their parish capital upgraded.