PEOPLE’S National Party (PNP) caretaker for St Mary South Eastern Christopher Brown has vowed to, “Take the constituency from the back of the class to the front,” when he becomes its next Member of Parliament (MP).

The constituency was once considered a safe seat for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) when it won for four consecutive terms by Alva Ross. But it was flipped by the PNP’s Harry Douglas in 1989. He also held it for four consecutive terms until he lost to the JLP’s Tarn Peralto in 2007.

By the next election it was back in the hands of the PNP with Dr Winston Green taking the constituency by a razor-thin margin. Green’s death in 2016 saw a by-election held in the constituency in 2017 which the JLP’s Dr Norman Dunn won.

Dunn has held the seat since then, but now businessman Brown is confident that he will get the nod whenever Jamaicans return to the polls.

According to Brown, the people of St Mary South Eastern have been neglected under the current political representative and the promise of shared prosperity has not reached them.

“Only a few are feeling this promise. If you look at the three St Mary seats, southeast St Mary is the poorest of the three,” Brown told the
Jamaica Observer, as he pointed to the poor road conditions across the constituency.

“On a walk, an 84-year-old lady said the roads are in the worst state that she has ever seen. The people are tired of hearing that they should be patient and give them some more time. More time, when the farmers cannot get their produce out to market, or students are not able to go to school, or people to do their business or work. It’s heartbreaking,” added Brown.

He argued that the parish has too much potential with both natural and human resources to be poor and added that these need to be tapped into.

“I will not say I have the solution, or that I can wave a wand and [the problems] will be solved. What I can say is to partner with the people, work with them, and do not make any promises that cannot be fulfilled,” said Brown.

The businessman, who has long expressed an interest in entering representational politics in St Mary, said his mandate will be to reverse the stagnation of the constituency.

“For the parish to move forward we have to invest in our infrastructure such as our roads, proper Internet connectivity… proper business sector settings.

“There is so much talent and untouched potential for eco-tourism, the rich history of this area. From the Annotto Bay Market, the Gray’s Inn area to Scott’s Hall, and many other communities which have a wealth of history that can be harnessed to develop a community tourism spectrum which will provide employment to persons in these areas,” added Brown.

He told the
Observer that training for people in his constituency will be an important part of his agenda.

“I see where people would want to get training from HEART Trust and they would have to go to either Portland or Port Maria. The plan is to partner with HEART to utilise the schools in the constituency where they would be training centres in the evenings,” he suggested.

Brown, who was born in Camberwell within the constituency, said his upbringing in that farming community taught him humility and the importance of being his brother’s keeper.

“I grew up and I know and see the struggles of that community and others and I believe I can make a change to take each community forward one step at a time,” he declared.