The St. James Municipal Corporation has launched a poetry writing competition to mark the 41st anniversary of Montego Bay receiving city status.
Montego Bay, regarded as the “Friendly City and Magic City” was given city status on
October 9, 1980 by an act of parliament.
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Montego Bay’s Mayor and Chairman of the St. James Municipal Corporation, Councillor Leeroy Williams in announcing the poetry competition said, Montego Bay has achieved a lot during the 41 year as a city and the event will be a major highlight in marking the milestone.
The competition, Mayor Williams said will be opened to high school and tertiary level students from St. James and is being staged under the theme “Montego Bay’s Beauty”.
Mayor Williams said “Montego Bay is the tourism capital of not just Jamaica, but the Caribbean and you take into consideration its beauty and the authenticity of the people, it is paradise on earth. When I spoke at the opening of Harmony Beach Park earlier this year, I outlined that this poetry writing competition will form part of activities to celebrate city status this year (2021)”.
He added that “expectations for the outcome of this competition are high. I now expect the creative juice of our high school and tertiary student to start flowing and at the end, they will present poems of world class standard”.
The winner, first and second runners-up will be handsomely rewarded, as Mayor Williams pointed out that writers and in particular poetry writers are “special people”.
He said “the winner will be presented with a cash prize of $100,000 with the first and second runner-up receiving $50,000 and $25,000 respectively. In addition, the winning poem will be packaged and produced in the form of a memorabilia for the city of Montego Bay which can be presented to visitors as a keep sake”.
Entries to the competition can be sent via email to dopcr@stjamesmc.gov.jm or can be dropped off at the Public Relations Office of the St. James Municipal Corporation at 19A Union Street no later than Thursday September 30, 2021 at 12 noon. Only submissions made at the cut-off time will be included.
