Opposition Senator Lambert Brown says residents of Portmore in St. Catherine have needs that are more pressing than having the municipality granted parish status.

The bill to make Portmore Jamaica’s fifteenth parish was passed in the Senate yesterday.

Speaking in the Upper House, Mr. Brown said Portmore residents want a hospital, and better roads among other things.

Meantime, Government Senator Delano Seiveright said the People’s National Party’s objection to Portmore becoming a parish, is overblown.