ADELPHI, St James — Whomever wins the St James East Central parliamentary seat when the votes are tallied on election night will have the mammoth task of addressing the chronic water problem besetting the constituency.

“The biggest problem for St James East Central of course, is water. The Ministry (of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change) however, has not responded favourably to my representation for that,” said Ed Bartlett, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for the constituency in the upcoming General Election.

“We (former JLP administration) had a programme for $1 billion to build a new well at Canaan, and a reservoir in Somerton to then pump the water into the reservoir, and gravity feed it to cover the whole area of East Central St James. But that has not materialised although Minister (Ian) Hayles (State minister for water) came to us and said that would be done. To date, nothing has been done.”

Bartlett, who has been Member of Parliament for the area since 2002, told the Jamaica Observer that “my main mission for the new term is water for East Central.

“I have the commitment from Mr Holness (Opposition leader) that water is his number plank for economic growth, so East Central can be assured that my mission will be water,” said the former tourism minister.

He added that “every area” of the constituency is affected by a lack of water. The long list of communities includes Adelphi, Paisley, Palmyra, Rhyne Park, Rosevale, Barrett Town, Lilliput, Barrett Hall, Somerton, John’s Hall, Hampton, Over River, Hurlock, Orange Heights, Hopeton, Irwin Heights, Sunderland and Lottery.

“So the entire constituency has that problem (lack of water), but you have to have the will and the commitment and a government that is prepared to provide the resources that is necessary,” the veteran politician stressed.

Bartlett, however, will have to garner more votes than his opponent, the People’s National Party’s Noel Donaldson, if he is to accomplish his “mission”.

Donaldson, a former mayor of Montego Bay and a JLP candidate in St James South in the 2007 General Election, believes however, that the incumbent candidate has not been effective in his representation for the constituency during his 14-year tenure.

On Nomination Day last Tuesday, he told scores of party supporters that the time had come for Bartlett to be replaced.

“Time come, time come to get rid of misrepresentation in East Central St James. Comrades, time come to get rid of the neglect of the people of East Central St James; time come, Comrades, for people to get water into them yard in East Central St James. Comrades, time come for after 14 years of neglect of the roads of East Central St James to be fixed. Comrades, when yuh time done, it done, and this yah man yah (Bartlett), time done,” Donaldson stressed, as he addressed scores of party faithful in Adelphi Square.

He argued that the time had also come for the constituency to be represented by a member of the PNP.

Donaldson later told the Sunday Observer that he is confident of a victory over Bartlett in the February 25 poll.

“I am very confident. I find that I am resonating with the people with the message that I am carrying, which is a basic message that people need representation, not misrepresentation, and for the last 14 years that Mr Bartlett has been the MP for the constituency he has failed miserably as a representative of the people, and this is why I speak to his misrepresentation,” said the PNP candidate.

Donaldson said approximately 70 per cent of the constituency lacks potable water; 65 per cent of the roads are in a deplorable condition, even though under the present People’s National Party Administration, Bartlett has been given money under JEEP (Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme) to repair roads.

“Basically, it is like an abandonment of the people that has happened in the constituency over the last 14 years, and I think that I have the credentials, I have the interest, the desire and the fact that I was the chairman of the Rural Water Supply, I know what that company can do, and I intend to harness Rural Water Supply to ensure that all of the rural communities in East Central St James get piped water,” he stated.

Stressing that the youth in the constituency have been abandoned, Donaldson pointed out that nothing has been done in terms of using the community centres to enhance sports and community development.

“It’s a myriad of things that are fundamentally wrong in East Central St James, and I have reached out to the people and they understand what I bring to the table — dedication, commitment and desire to serve,” he emphasised.

But Bartlett, however, has stoutly defended his stewardship of the constituency, which comprises a number of deep rural communities and encompasses the developed Rose Hall area, which has seen millions of dollars worth of investment in recent years.

“No MP has done more for East Central St James, than I have done,” he declared.

“Every university in Jamaica and several overseas, have students from East Central St James that our education programme supports. Every high school in the western region, every teachers’ college has students that are graduating and most of the primary schools have teachers that have graduated from our programme. We have touched the lives of every family in East Central St James with programmes for health support, funeral support, for economic improvement and employment for young people.”

He added that during this financial year some 11 roads have been rehabilitated, stressing that “this it is a record year in terms of the number of roads repaired”.

“What we have not been able to do, of course, is the main infrastructure that the Ministry of Works has responsibility for and that, as you know, is the responsibility of the minister and his budget, so the two roads that are of concern to us are NWA (National Works Agency) roads, which we have brought the minister to come and see. Mr (Richard) Azan (junior minister of works) has come and seen them, we have even asked the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) to provide support. They (TEF) said ‘yes’ but the Tourism Ministry needs to make the final decision, but that hasn’t been done,” he explained.

Last July, Azan toured several infrastructural projects in the constituency, which were earlier completed under JEEP.

These included four rehabilitated roadways — Lover’s Lane, Dollar Mango, Timber Close and Green Park — which were repaired at a cost of $12 million.

He pointed out then that the rehabilitated roadways will serve more than 7,000 residents in the communities in the constituency.

After opening those roadways, Azan toured other areas that he said could also benefit under JEEP, including roads in Content, Chelsea Crescent and Corner Road. He also visited Latium, where a bridge was promised to be constructed under JEEP.

Bartlett told the Sunday Observer shortly after he was nominated last Tuesday, that he has recently built a state-of-the-art community centre in the Barrett Town area of the constituency.

“It is now ready for opening; it has light for night games; a proper court, as well as a centre equipped for electronic and other services. We have also built a brand new community centre in Kempshot, a bridge in Latium and a bridge in John’s Hall that connects the south and north of Montego Bay,” he boasted.

Still, Barrett Town residents Annette Reid and Sonia Green believe that much more could be done for the constituency.

They too pointed to the lack of water in their community, the deplorable state of the cemetery in the area and the need for more housing solutions.

According to the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ), a public government agency established in 1943 to administer the holding of Parliamentary and Local Government Elections, in the 2011 General Election, Bartlett beat the PNP’s Cedric Stewart by a majority of 174 votes.

Roughly 52 per cent of 24,826 electors voted.

But a confident Bartlett said on Tuesday that he expects to win the seat by a majority of 1,500 votes in the upcoming poll.

“The last time [2011 general election] was a mixture of straight corruption… and the fact that I was the minister of tourism, I was all over the world. But now that work has been done. I am very, very confident,” said the three-term MP.

Interestingly, in the nine parliamentary elections held in the constituency since the seat was first contested in the 1976 General Election, the JLP has won six and the PNP three.

Former House Speaker Violet Neilson, a resident of Somerton in the constituency, is the only PNP candidate to have won the seat.