Falmouth mayor wants more events like camporee
FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Encouraged by the town’s successful hosting of an international event put on by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, mayor of Falmouth Councillor C Junior Gager is hoping the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium will be the venue for other major events.
“We have benefited as a parish. We are hoping that there might be more events like this at the stadium. Because you know that the stadium isn’t being fully utilised. So events like these can help to give it a boost,” he said.
Among those who did well during the five-day event, the mayor said, were Falmouth’s farmers.
“The local farmers benefitted grossly from the sales of their produce throughout the staging of the event at the stadium. I know especially that coconut water was a hot seller. [A member of the organising team] from the site called me and said that he had something like about 10,000 coconuts and they were finished; and he called me asking where they could get coconuts at that time,” said Gager who is also chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC).
Describing the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (SDA) Fifth Pathfinder Camporee as a “spectacular experience”, he said it had catapulted the parish into the international spotlight in a positive way.
He extended his gratitude to all stakeholders, including the 120 members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force who were on hand, who made the camporee a success.
Gager was speaking at the regular monthly meeting of the TMC which was held inside a recently completed building, which is slated to be used as a night shelter at the Falmouth Drop In Centre. This will be the venue for the “next few meetings”, the mayor said.
Monthly meetings are customarily held at the Falmouth Town Hall, upstairs the building that houses the Falmouth Court House. However, the roof of the structure, which dates back to 1815 but was rebuilt after a fire in 1926, caved in on March 22.
The TMC is working on repairs. Meanwhile court matters have been transferred to Duncans.