Mayors of TT, Jamaica move for closer ties

THE TWINNING of the cities of Kingston in Jamaica and Port-of-Spain in Trinidad has not yet taken root, but already, the Mayor of Kingston is on the ball. Mayor Desmond McKenzie spent three days in Trinidad last week as guest of the Port-of-Spain Corporation. The main purpose of his visit was to discuss with his Trinidad and Tobago counterpart, Murchison Brown, the idea of Kingston tied-in with Port-of-Spain. Mayor Mckenzie told a civic reception in his honour, hosted by Mayor Brown, that as a “symbol of this vision of cooperation, we have asked our Bureau of Standards to provide the necessary expertise to assist your Council in sourcing, acquiring and installing an “Atomic Clock” in Port-of-Spain, similar to one the Bureau has installed at Half-Way-Tree in Kingston. According to McKenzie, this is a Global Positioning System (GPS) which is directly linked to satellites in outer space, each carrying automatic standard clocks on board.

This ensures that the clock is directly connected to other atomic clocks and is controlled in a very precise manner, via the GPS. “This may seem only a small step in terms for what we can achieve through cooperation, but what better way to commence our relationship than through an important timepiece?”  asked Mayor McKenzie. “I hope that once we have made this step, we will be able to properly time our schedule and ensure that we meet our deadlines in terms of the role we envision in promoting greater cooperation and unity between the people of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago,” said McKenzie.

He went on: “We are determined to prove that not because we are considered developing countries our cities have to be underdeveloped. “There is scope for structural development, with the cooperation of the public and private sectors which can lay the foundation for the social and economical progress of these cities, to the point where they can become comparable to the important cities of richer countries.” 
McKenzie also said that Jamaica is willing to share its experiences with the city of Port-of-Spain in exchange for its experiences which can be of mutual benefit. The Kingston Mayor said he was a firm believer in closer cultural ties and social participation between countries and cities of the region.