Portmore promises

Asserting that the residents of Portmore will not change course, People’s National Party (PNP) mayoral candidate Leon Thomas says there will be a clean sweep of the divisions of the municipality in favour of the opposition party at month-end.

However, Markland Edwards, the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) candidate in the race, has declared that it is he who will be sweeping away the dust left behind by Thomas when he assumes office after the February 26 Local Government Election.

The two were guests at a Gleaner Editors’ Forum yesterday, where they staked their claims to the highly sought-after leadership of the Portmore Municipal Corporation.

Portmore is home to just under 200,000 residents.

Data from the Electoral Commission of Jamaica indicate that 113,025 residents are eligible to vote in the coming election. The figure represents an increase of almost 20,000 newly registered voters.

The PNP holds 10 of the 12 divisions in Portmore.

“It’s going to be a clean sweep from all indications,” Thomas said.

Thomas, who acted in the position of mayor for three years before he earned his mandate in the November 2016 local government election, said the PNP’s machinery is fully charged.

He said the shock defeat the PNP encountered in 2007, when the JLP’s Keith Hinds defeated George Lee, will not be repeated.

Thomas called the result of that election a mistake.

“The Portmore Municipality is growing, and the people of Portmore see where we are going, and the plans that we have to enhance Portmore, they bought into it,” said Thomas.

“That is one of the reasons why they are not going to change course at this time. They have done it, and it was set back. Now we put it on track, and I can tell you, anybody that knows Portmore from where it is coming from and where it is now will give me a grade [of] 100 per cent,” he added.

Portmore residents have traditionally voted for the PNP, but the JLP won two of the three constituencies in the 2020 general election.

That two-to-one dynamic is not a concern for Thomas, who was steadfast in his argument that it is the PNP that has built the single largest dormitory community in the English-speaking Caribbean.

“I just want to say to the public, rest assured. We started building Portmore, and we are going to continue to build Portmore. The sustainable development plan is ready, and we’re going to launch that sustainable development plan after the election,” he said.

Thomas said the newly built municipal corporation building, dubbed ‘Portmore’s White House’, will be opened after the election.

Further, he said the improvement of local roads would continue and the lobbying of the Government for the improvement of the Port Henderson main road and Braeton Parkway would be intense.

“We have 15 acres of land ready to have the tax office, the NIS (National Insurance Scheme) office, the passport office, the fire station, and other government agencies in one area along with the municipal building and the police station. One stop,” he said, disclosing that the land is located along Dyke Road in St Catherine.

But Thomas’ plans may not come to fruition if Edwards assumes the post.

A neophyte to representational politics, Edwards is convinced that the national projects announced by the Holness Administration, including the Portmore Resilience Park where construction began a few days ago, will cause a shift in how residents vote.

“When I become mayor, there will be a clean sweep of the municipality building in terms of making sure there is no dust before I start working. That’s the only clean sweep I can refer to,” Edwards said with a touch of satire.

Edwards said he expects that the JLP will have “majority control” of Portmore given the work of the party’s 12 representatives and the support from the respective members of parliament.

“The people will come out on the 26th and not just vote for Markland Edwards, a JLP mayor. As I said before, I will be the people’s mayor. I want to be a mayor for all of Portmore … . We’re going to make Portmore the people’s place division by division,” said Edwards.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com