Campaign ends
THE island’s two major political parties yesterday wrapped up their campaign for tomorrow’s local government elections with tours of Kingston and St Andrew and late evening meetings in Kingston.
The ruling People’s National Party (PNP) toured the city with two motorcades — one led by its president, Prime Minister P J Patterson, and the other by vice-president, Peter Phillips, the security minister — while leader of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Edward Seaga took his party’s motorcade from Bull Bay through several Corporate Area communities.
As the PNP teams meandered through the city, scores of orange-clad, flag-waving supporters joined the caravans as they passed through their respective divisions. Patterson’s team started from Papine, and Phillips at Stony Hill in West Rural St Andrew, ending with a rally at Rae Town in Central Kingston.
The mood on the PNP tour was one of merriment, although some supporters openly flouted the body protrusion law and hung dangerously from the windows and backs of sometimes speeding vehicles in full view of the police, who seemed powerless to act.
Patterson, in addressing the rally, called on Corporate Area voters to ensure that the PNP retains control of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC). According to Patterson, the KSAC had important work to continue doing at the local level and control of the council would put his party into a better position to continue the work which he said was already underway.
“As much as has been done there is still a lot more to be done. Much of what has to be done has to be done by the Kingston and St Andrew Council. I want to make sure that we keep control of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation,” Patterson said.
The redevelopment of Kingston and the preparation of the capital city to host the 2007 World Cup of Cricket were two areas of work which Patterson said the KSAC had to continue.
The PNP president also took a swipe at JLP leader Edward Seaga.
“Seaga now come with a new theory. Him say we get central government so him must get local government. That is the most foolish argument that I ever heard,” Patterson said to loud cheers.
The prime minister, who entered the stage to Sizzla’s popular single, Solid As A Rock, also referred to statistics which stated that the tourism and bauxite sectors were experiencing growth and mentioned the National Health Fund, as he sought to convince voters to cast their ballots in his party’s favour.
Meanwhile, the JLP, which ended its tour with a rally at the Coronation Market in West Kingston, was apparently encouraged by the overwhelming support from people along the way who came out of their homes and offices to cheer the passing motorcade.
“How di PNP think dem a go win? You nuh see how people come outa dem yard fi see the leader? Is cause dem fed up, but dem wise up! Nobody nah vote fi PNP again,” an old man in the dominant PNP constituency of Central Kingston told the Observer when the tour paused momentarily in the Allman Town division.
The JLP began its campaign in the dusty foothills of the Dallas Mountains, 11 Miles east of Kingston in Bull Bay, St Andrew. Less than 10 vehicles of supporters left Bull Bay, but by the time the tour arrived in downtown Kingston for the first stop in the inner-city community of Southside in the Rae Town division, the motorcade was transformed into a long, snaking line of buses, SUVs and cars overflowing with labour party supporters waving flags and leafy tree limbs.
After brief stops to dance with supporters in Campbell Town, Seaga and followers proceeded through Vineyard Town and up Mountain View Avenue, onto Old Hope Road and through Liguanea, where the motorcade, now at least 50 vehicles long, forced traffic at the usually bustling intersection of Hope, Old Hope and Barbican Roads to a virtual standstill.
From there it was into the community of Standpipe Lane, where councillor candidate for the Mona division Garfield Lee entered the fray, and through the lethargic suburbs of Barbican, where almost every vehicle in oncoming traffic flashed headlights, honked horns and cheered the passing labourites. In the staunchly JLP community of Grants Pen, a column of denim-fatigued police stood guard at Morgan’s Lane and Shortwood Lane, where a handful of PNP supporters in orange T-shirts taunted the passing motorcade.
From there, it was over to Whitehall Avenue, Red Hills Road and into Marverly, and from there into Duhaney Park where another short stop added more vehicles and more supporters to the long line. On the Washington Boulevard, the long column, now two lanes thick, caught the attention of motorists, who again showed their support by honking and cheering the passing motorcade.
The tour ended at Coronation Market in the heart of the Kingston’s commercial district and Seaga’s West Kingston constituency. There, celebrations began, as jubilant, bell-ringing supporters danced to popular dancehall tunes as the party’s councillor candidates were introduced by Tivoli Gardens candidate, Senator Desmond McKenzie. Seaga later addressed the meeting.
There are 227 parish council divisions islandwide, but elections will be held only in 226 as the Electoral Office of Jamaica was forced to postpone the poll in the Braeton, St Catherine division following the death last week of the labour party candidate. That election will be held next month.
There will also, for the first time, be the direct election of a mayor in the Portmore Municipality in St Catherine.