Women out west aiming to make mark in politics

WESTERN BUREAU:

WHILE ONLY five women will be among the 64 persons who will be sworn in as councillors in five municipal corporations in the county of Cornwall, it is expected that they will all make an impact. In fact, indications are that one of them stands a good chance of being selected to serve as mayor.

In Hanover, where two women faced the electorate, Andria Dehaney-Grant, who served as deputy mayor to Sheridan Samuels as part of the People’s National Party (PNP) team that formed the majority in the seven-division municipality, is being tipped for the top job after her impressive showing in retaining the Sandy Bay seat, albeit Samuels also retained his seat in the Cauldwell division.

“While Samuels wants to continue as mayor, both Dehaney-Grant and former mayor Wynter McIntosh (who won in Chester Castle) are said to be interested,” a well-placed PNP source told The Gleaner. “I understand Dehaney-Grant has the most support at this time.”

While Trelawny, which had one female councillor in Pauline Foster, formerly of the Ulster Spring division in the last 17-seat Trelawny Municipal Corporation, is now without a female councillor, the neighbouring parish of St James, which had an all-male grouping in the last administration, now has one female representative in Donyja Allen-Thompson. Allen-Thompson won the Montego Bay North division.

“I am feeling honoured and humbled that the people have seen it fit to elect me, “ said Allen-Thompson, who is an educator. “I am not at all intimidated being among so many men because I have worked in leadership positions with men before and was able to hold my own.”

As it relates to her agenda going forward, Allen-Thompson, who replaced the former mayor, Leeroy Williams, in what is considered a tough area, which includes Glendevon and surrounding inner-city communities, said while she would focus on the usual issues such as the provision of light, water, and good roads, she had other specific plans to uplift her division.

FOCUS ON WOMEN, YOUTH

“I want to start a programme to uplift the women, especially the single women, through skill training and the opening of other doors of opportunities for them,” said Allen-Thompson. “As an educator, I also want to develop programmes to develop the young people, primarily through skill training ... . We intend to make good use of the training centre on Sun Valley Road (Glendevon).”

While the dust had not yet settled in Westmoreland, where a magisterial recount was taking place to determine the winner of the Cornwall Mountain division, the parish, which features 14 division, will eventually end up with three female councillors. Joan Bahadur and Julian Chang, who won the Friendship and Savanna-la-Mar divisions, respectively, on the PNP’s ticket, are already assured of their seats while the battle for Cornwall Mountain is between two women – Dawnette Foster, who won the seat for the JLP in 2016, and her PNP challenger, Abigail Malcolm.

Andrea Purkiss, the PNP’s provisional candidate for Hanover Eastern, says she is happy to see more women seeking political office. Using herself as an example, she said that initially, she had no political aspirations, despite her penchant for serving people. However, when the opportunity came, she took it as she believed that she had the skill sets to be successful.

“A lot of women are not prepared to stand up to the demands of politics, but I believe that women are blessed with special nurturing skills, which is something that is needed in our politics,” said Purkiss, who has made a name for herself in the male-dominated hospitality sector in western Jamaica. “I would love to see more women in politics as while I am not trying to be sexist, I believe that they are not as easily distracted as men and so should produce good results.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com