SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Some say Raymond Pryce will have an uphill battle shaking off the challenge of Santa Cruz businessman Evon Redman for leadership of the ruling People’s National Party'(PNP) St Elizabeth North Eastern constituency organisation.

But Pryce, the member of Parliament for the constituency since the elections of December 2011, is banking on his accomplishments and work, particularly in education and health, to carry him through.

Speaking to journalists recently, following a breaking of ground, led by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, for the construction of eight new classrooms at Balaclava High School, Pryce reeled off schools which he said had been upgraded or were in the process of being upgraded as a result of his intervention.

Balaclava High apart, he listed Aberdeen High School in the Siloah Division (upgraded to a high school), Thornton Primary and Basic School, Windsor Primary, Siloah Primary, Leeds Primary, Braes River Primary, among schools that had benefited from his representation.

In the case of Balaclava High, which is to be renamed in honour of the late, legendary agriculture minister and former MP for St Elizabeth NE Roger Clarke, $40 million is to be spent on the new classroom block. The money will come from an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan.

Pryce boasts that among his educational achievements as MP as been the elimination of pit latrines at schools and their replacement with modern water closets. He said that when he took over as MP in January 2012, “six schools (in St Elizabeth NE) had pit latrines”

“…All six schools that had pit latrine in 2012 January have now all been refurbished, (and) not just (with) the removal of pit latrines,” he outlined.

In the case of Braes River, major expansion work, including a new classroom block, a sanitation block, and other facilities “are 90 per cent complete”, he said.

But for Pryce, perhaps his proudest achievement has been in health, with the major upgrade of the Santa Cruz Health Centre to a Centre of Excellence under a Ministry of Health programme targeting the modernisation of primary health care facilities.

Pryce has said that he intends to ensure that the health centre becomes a hospital, serving Santa Cruz, the wider St Elizabeth, and neighbouring parishes.

“At the clinic in Santa Cruz, soon to become a hospital …the negotiations for adjoining lands to expand the clinic are well near completion,” he told journalists.

Pryce said that, in response to the upcoming challenge by Redman, his task would be to serve as part of a team aimed at “construction” not “destruction”.

He had been advised by a constituent that “you can either lead construction team or the destruction team will lead you”.

“…My emphasis, as long as I am the member of Parliament for North East St Elizabeth, is about the young people, the youth, the elderly, the people, not a few persons, however well placed they are,” Pryce said.

Education Minister Ronald Thwaites was among those hailing Pryce and other St Elizabeth MPs at Balaclava for their political representation on behalf of constituencies and communities.

Even Pryce’s critics in St Elizabeth NE have commended his track record in getting “things done”. The difficulty, they said, has been in relation to other aspects of his constituency work, including “trust issues” and in relation to political organisation within the constituency.

“I will never tell you he has not done good work; in fact, he has done some very good things,” one veteran PNP activist and organiser, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Jamaica Observer. “My problem is that the constituency organisation has been run-down. Under his watch, I am not aware of any workers’ meetings, I am not aware of any political education meetings…the ordinary Comrade who goes to the shop piazza and talk PNP politics…if you don’t educate him, he won’t do well,” the veteran organiser said.

Comrades said the perceived weakness in paying attention to grass roots organisation is surprising, since Pryce is deputy general secretary.

Pressed by the Observer regarding the questions about organisational weaknesses, Pryce appeared impatient, even annoyed.

“What I will say… is, people say, Raymond does,” Pryce said. “In addition to whatever else the critics are saying, let the critics discuss his (Pryce’s) accomplishments today and tell them that they must also feel that they are a part of the achievements on behalf of the people of St Elizabeth North Eastern.

“I can speak to you by the achievements… people will have opinions… I can’t verify or confirm their concerns, that’s their opinion, and God Bless them for it,” he said.

Quizzed about a perceived failure to unite Comrades behind him in the constituency, Pryce said: “I put it no more simply than this…the work (constituency representation) is speaking voluminously, perhaps some persons are a little jealous of that. Have you ever asked my critics why they are jealous?”

Party sources say no date has yet been set for the delegate selection to decide between Pryce and Redman. The winner will be expected to represent the party in the general election, constitutionally due by late 2016.

Authoritative sources say West Indies cricketer Wavell Hinds, who had at one time carried out ‘soundings” in the constituency, has since lost interest.

St Elizabeth North East is a flagship seat for the PNP in rural Jamaica. In December 2011, Pryce — sent to the constituency just a month earlier as a replacement for Basil Waite who was dropped by the PNP — defeated the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Corris Samuels by 4,068 votes.