Golding describes party’s candidates as ‘smart’, ‘brilliant’ and ‘talented’
Buoyed by the enthusiastic crowd that greeted their all-island bus tour, which made a mid-morning stop in Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay, St James on Saturday, the People’s National Party (PNP) has made it clear that it will be targeting all five seats in the parish in the impending general election.
PNP President Mark Golding, who seemed quite pleased with the sea of orange in the historic square, told the large gathering that they should support all five candidates so that the party can end the governing Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) control of the parish for which it now holds all five constituencies.
“Comrades, we have some wonderful candidates here [in St James], three women out of five … progressive move, don’t it?” said Golding. “We have a real Rastaman, Allan Bernard, mi brethren. Mi know him long time. ‘Heartical’ youth community developer. And we have the brilliant Dr Andre Haughton, top of him class a UWI (The University of the West Indies).
“And, of course, the ladies themselves, (Nekeisha Burchell, Senator Janice Allen and Rushell Reid-Knott), dem look good … caa [have] more than that. They are very smart, they are brilliant, talented, and I know they will represent you well.”
In seeking to justify why the PNP should reclaim the balance of power, which the party enjoyed for several years during the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, with stalwarts such as former Governor General Sir Howard Cooke, and former Tourism Minister Francis Tulloch, Golding said many things are happening under the JLP which need to be corrected.
“Comrades, we are tired of the St James situation. Labourites control St James right now. That has to stop,” said Golding, amid shouts of “no more” from the crowd. “The time has come to restore the balance now. So I am saying to all of you, get on the PNP train, get on board the train to progress, get on board the train to a better life. If you [are] a party worker, do the work and get the canvas done. Let’s know who our voters are.”
In his wide-ranging address, Golding said the PNP is ready to put agriculture on a solid footing. He said J$9 billion will be spent on a school feeding programme for the nation’s children, and a subsidy will be established to pay the cost of transport for students – at $500 a day for 20,000 students across Jamaica.
In relation to the party’s five prospective candidates in St James, who will be seeking to displace Dr Horace Chang (St James Northwest), Edmund Bartlett (St James East Central), Heroy Clarke (St James Central), Marlene Malahoo Forte (St James West Central), and Homer Davis (St James Southern), all are seemingly confident.
“I never see such man a campaign so hard yet,” said Bernard, who will be challenging Chang in what has long been considered a safe JLP seat. “Him (Chang) start feeling the heat and I want to tell him that time come.”
As for Allen, who is looking to displace Clarke, she said she was ready to end what she called nine years of poor representation and that she has put plans in place to address many of the social issues plaguing what are predominantly inner-city style communities.
“We are going to be addressing situations such as housing, as we will be seeking to improve the quality of life in the constituency,” said Allen. “We are also going to fix the long-standing issue of a proper water supply system for places like Rose Heights and Salt Spring,”
While the vast majority of those present in Sam Sharpe Square appeared to be at least willing to listen to the PNP’s message, one vendor made it clear that she was already firmly seated on the JLP’s train, while predicting that St James will remain ‘green’ .
“Dem coulda preach like Paul, St James belong to the JLP. And, whether dem like it or not, dem getting another five nil. Brogad (Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness) have St James lock,” he said. “You nuh see seh a pure heavyweight the JLP have round here – Dr Chang, Mr Bartlett, Homer Davis, Malahoo-Forte and Heroy. Me nuh know weh the PNP a go with them likkle fenke fenke candidate dem.”