New Custos to be sworn in tomorrow

No. 67 Wednesday, March 17, 2010
By Shamir Brown - Trelawny correspondent
Trelawny's new Custos, Paul Muschett, is to be officially unveiled to the people at a ceremony that is to be held in the square come Thursday.

    Preparations are in the late stages with the square expected be transformed by Thursday, March 17 at 2 p.m. The entire square will be blocked off to vehicular and some aspects of pedestrian traffic so as to accommodate the function.
    Governor General, Sir Patrick Allen, is expected to be in attendance, along with Justice Minister, Dorothy Lightbourne and other government officials. The event is expected to be top notch with it being organized by the Office of the Governor General with the Regiment Band of the JDF expected to be in attendance.
    A rehearsal was held on Tuesday 16, March to fine tune everything and to examine with great detail the area and its immediate surroundings. This is simply to make sure that the event goes off without a hitch and that the residents get a good function.
    The last time that a Custos was sworn in was in 1990 when the late Royland Barrett had accepted the post. He was able to give some great years until he died in January in the Kingston Public Hospital due to renal failure. He was expected to step down just a month after he died after he was asked to carryon by the Governor General after he was supposed to officially retire in December 2009.
    The 52 year-old farmer's appointment was announced in January by then, Acting Custos of the parish, Evelyn Dyer Spence, during a swearing­in ceremony for 38 new Justices of the Peace at the Falmouth court house which he too affixed his name to the list of the parish's JPs.
    He has some big shoes to fill, but is expected to do so quite well after it was revealed that he will be following up on the last Custos' mandate to keep the spirit of volunteer­ism alive in the parish. He also mentioned that he is keen to work with the lo­cal authorities to help the people of the parish. It is also mentioned that he expects to further develop the training for the JPs of the parish.
    The new Custos took up office on February 15 where he used the day to meet with several representatives of the community.