ST. ANN MUNICIPAL CORPORATION WINS LOCAL GOVERNMENT MONTH COOK-OFF COMPETITION
MONTEGO BAY, December (JIS):
The St. Ann Municipal Corporation emerged victorious at the Local Government Month 2024 Cook-Off Competition, held at Pearly Beach in St. Ann, on Friday, November 29.
Dubbed the ‘Garden Elites’, the team claimed the coveted Golden Stove Award for their outstanding culinary creativity and presentation.
The event, which marked the culmination of this year’s Local Government Month, brought together 13 teams from various municipal corporations and government agencies in a display of gastronomic skill and creativity.
Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, known as the ‘Westmoreland Phoenix’, secured second place, while Manchester Municipal Corporation, competing as ‘MMC Blazin Kitchen’, placed third.
The competition challenged participants to showcase their culinary prowess with sausage as the primary ingredient.
In the drink category, callaloo was the main ingredient. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, dubbed the ‘Hurricane ODPEM’, clinched first place, with St. James Municipal Corporation’s ‘Sausalloo’ team securing second.
A tie for third place went to the National Solid Waste Management Authority’s (NSWMA) ‘Solid Waste Culinary Warriors’ and St. Ann Municipal Corporation’s ‘Garden Elites’.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the St. Ann Municipal Corporation, Jennifer Brown-Cunningham, told JIS News that she feels “overjoyed” having won the coveted title.
“We have been working at this for more than two years, and we are just ecstatic that it is our turn. We really worked hard at it. The team has been practising, and we are so happy that our hard work has paid off,” Mrs. Brown-Cunningham said.
She added that events such as this are vital for fostering camaraderie among teams and building a sense of community within the sector. In fact, these gatherings offer an opportunity for staff from the 14 municipalities and various agencies under the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development to connect and collaborate, she said.
In the meantime, Director of Corporate Communication in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Dahlia McDonald, said the cookoff served to educate the wider public about the work and contributions of local government.
“Our recently published Citizen’s Charter was distributed to members of the public, so the event was also used for promotional purposes. It was free and open to the public, and so we used the opportunity to educate them and provide information about Local Government and our services,” Ms. McDonald explained.
The day featured teams from the Manchester, Westmoreland, St. Ann, St. James, Trelawny, and Portmore Municipal Corporations, along with participants from the Ministry, the Jamaica Fire Brigade, ODPEM, NSWMA, and the Social Development Commission, among others.
An electronic version of the Citizen’s Charter is also on the Ministry’s website. www.localgovjamaica.gov.jm.
