Late Homestead councillor laid to rest
OWEN ANDREW Palmer, late councillor for the Homestead division and minority leader for the Jamaica Labour Party caucus at the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, was laid to rest at the Meadowrest Memorial Park in St Catherine on Saturday after a thanksgiving celebration service for his life held at the Worship Centre on Old Harbour Road, Spanish Town.
Palmer died on March 4, when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed along Old Harbour Road. He was remembered for a life of service as a community leader, teacher, sports enthusiast and localgovernment practitioner who served the people of Homestead for most his life.
Leading the tribute, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said that Palmer gave of himself without seeking anything in return.
“Today, we honour the life of a local-government practitioner,” said McKenzie, who announced the establishment of a scholarship fund to benefit one university student from the division each year, as well as the renaming of a road in Homestead, in honour of Palmer’s dedicated service to local government.
MORE THAN A HERO
“If we don’t blow the trumpet of our colleagues, no one will do it for us. He may never be awarded with a national honour [or] be called ‘the most honourable’, but if you ask the people whose lives he has touched, they will say he is more than a hero,” the local government minister said.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who entered St Catherine High School, while Palmer was graduating in 1982, said that he came to know the late councillor as a genuine person who had an ability to connect with people in all spheres of live.
“This characteristic is what propelled him to become a councillor. He was not an average politician. He had a calm disposition; he knew how to bring down the temperature,” said Holness, while invoking the promise of eternal life, suggesting that he will live again eternally by virtue of Jesus Christ, who died for us. The prime minister added that once the late Owen Palmer is kept in the memories of everyone, he will be alive.
St Catherine Municipal Corporation Chairman and Mayor of Spanish Town Norman Scott, who met the deceased THE JN Bank has expanded its e-banking services to business clients on its JN LIVE Business online banking platform to include features such as file uploads and payments to other financial institutions.
Ricardo Dystant, head of eBusiness at JN Bank, said that the upgrade of the JN LIVE Business, which was launched a year ago, is part of a broader digital strategy, that will improve the convenience and efficiency of everyday banking for members, as well as reduce queues and wait time in the banking halls across its 34 locations.
“Our goal is to provide our clients with a convenient, easy-touse platform to save them time and money,” he stated.
Dystant explained that with councillor when he first joined the council in 2003, said that his passing has left a void that can never be filled.
“I have never made a decision without his input. All he wanted to see was the best outcome for the people of St Catherine. I have lost a friend,” Scott disclosed.
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament Andrew Wheatley, under whose leadership of the council Palmer served as deputy mayor for seven years, said that it has been a very difficult period for the constituents since his passing.
“He embodied a true spirit of dedication, leaving good memories that will live in our lives forever,” Wheatley said before playing voice notes he had kept that shows the evolution of the man whom he said was family. the new e-banking capabilities business clients are now able to upload payment files from their accounting system and pay persons through different local financial institutions.
“Therefore, we’re not limiting the benefit of our online service to persons with only JN Bank accounts, because we want to ensure the continued success of our members’ businesses,” he explained.
MORE CAPABILITIES
He further advised that, as the needs of business clients continue to evolve, so, too, will the capabilities of the e-banking platform.
“We have several key improvements on the horizon, including the integration with your company’s payroll system,” he highlighted. “With this change, not only will clients be able to upload a file, but they will also receive an extract that they can import into their account system. This will alleviate the task of having someone manually enter the transaction into their account books,” he stated.