CONSTITUENCY PROFILE: ST. ANN NORTH EASTERN

The deciding factor
Devon Evans
Freelance Writer

ST. ANN North Eastern was described for years as a stronghold of the People's National Party (PNP).

However, this seat was won by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in the March 8, 2001 by-election. That victory for the JLP marked only the second time since the 1959 general election, that it has been able to secure victory in the constituency. The first was in 1980 when Bobby Marsh defeated the PNP's Vinroy Brown by a margin of 9,979 to 6,941.

In the October 16 general election, political analysts say that the JLP must retain this seat if the party is to win the majority of seats and form the next government. But the PNP on the other hand is trying to secure a fourth term and the party, no doubt, must be aware that it has to recapture this seat in order to strengthen its chances of what would be an historic return to office.

When the PNP's Danny Melville defeated the JLP's Michael Belnavis and the National Democratic Movement's Dr. Osmond Tomlinson in the 1997 general election, there were some 26,265 electors on the voters' list and of the 17,166 ballots cast there were 9,150 for the PNP, 7,062 for the JLP and 518 for the NDM.

Last year's by-election saw the JLP polling 735 more votes for a winning total of 7,797 while the PNP polled 1,826 fewer, or 7,324 votes. The NDM's vote count in the constituency moved up by 224 to 742. The candidates in that by-election were Shahine Robinson for the JLP, Carrol Jackson representing the PNP, Barbara Clarke of the NDM and Astor Black of the Alliance Movement who managed to get only 39 votes.

In this year's election, the number of electors in the constituency has risen to over 30,000 and the stage has been set for another keen contest. However, of the four candidates who contested the seat last March only Robinson, the sitting MP, and Jackson, Councillor for the Ocho Rios division, will again be entering the upcoming contest. The two new candidates are Kamara Nkrumah, an educator, representing the United People's Party (UPP), and Arlene Janice Campbell, a Canadian-born scientific researcher, representing the NDM.

It is fair to say the contest will be another straight fight between the JLP and the PNP and every effort is being made by both parties to gain victory. This has been evident over the last four months with school meetings, divisional conferences, motorcades and large public meetings.

Although many people have been taken up with the issues such as whether there should be free education, the people of St. Ann North East have their own problems to contend with. These range from unemployment, lack of adequate opportunities for young people, shortage of housing, environmental degradation, poor state of interior roads, crime, to the need for proper community facilities.

While tourism continues to provide the bulk of employment in Ocho Rio, many of these jobs are held by non-residents of the constituency, mainly from St. Mary and to a lesser extent St. Catherine, who, at times, are willing to work for even lower wages than those residing in the area.

The downturn in tourism, especially since September 11, 2001, has resulted in staff reduction at several establishments, thus increasing the unemployment list. All four candidates agree that a lot more needs to be done to exploit the full potential of the tourism industry to improve the level of employment in the constituency.

Shahine Robinson, the sitting MP, has repeatedly expressed the view that the tourism product needs to be marketed more efficiently and effectively, which is largely the view being expressed by her party, in order to fill existing hotel rooms. According to her, the Dunn's River Falls is over-used while Fern Gully as an attraction is dead and that despite the desire to attract more tourism investments, the lack of a sound economic environment has made the climate unattractive to investors. Also, she insists that priority should be placed on making the country safe for locals.

Carol Jackson, on the other hand, views the future development of tourism as one that should begin with the people being sensitised about the importance of tourism to their existence. School children should be included and there should be commitment to nurture the growth and development of the industry.

"It has to be first and foremost the people's will for tourism to work; because regardless of how much money we put into tourism, if the person on the ground does not understand what tourism means to this country and himself... we are wasting money and time," the PNP candidate argued.

Arlene Campbell, the NDM candidate, in addition to wanting to see further growth in tourism, has put forward as part of her proposals, a call for the decriminalisation of ganja to allow the establishment of cottage industries using the many qualities of the weed as well as the marketing of many other Jamaican herbs. She said the employment potential was enormous and would impact positively on both North and East St. Ann, and the country as a whole.

Kamara Nkrumah, a Garveyite and UPP candidate, said that he has a new approach to development for the constituency. Arguing that tourism could not be developed without first providing the ordinary people with some means of personal development, Mr. Nkrumah said his aim was to transform the thinking of his constituents to help them develop a value system and self-esteem, then move on to other areas such as economic development.

"All the development in tourism we are talking about cannot succeed without people feeling that they are part of the development," he said.

One of the major social problems in St. Ann North Eastern is the need for housing and this has given rise to at least eight squatter communities, stretching from White River on the east to Seville on the West, in the process contributing widespread environmental degradation and pollution of several rivers and streams, including the famous Dunn's River Falls.

Attempts have been made over the past year to address the housing problem through the upgrading of two major settlements at Mammee Bay South and Shaw Park, while work began recently on the development of more than 3,000 housing lots at Beecher Town.

The government says it intends to sell these lots to residents of the constituency and that some of the lots would be used to resettle squatters now occupying lands in watershed areas. The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) was also developing more than 300 lots in the Davis Town-Chalky Hill area.

With an increasing population, the need for community centres and parks is becoming even greater. The Buckfield Community Centre was renovated last year and the St. Ann's Bay Oval was restored paving the way for the resumption of regular games. However, facilities such as Jones Rhiener Youth Centre, Lawrence Park, both in St. Ann's Bay, Seville Heights Community Centre and several others need similar attention.