#JaVotes2020 | ‘Farm work saved my family, thanks to Kellier,’ says St James South elderly woman
Published:Thursday | September 3, 2020 | 2:40 PMMark Titus - Gleaner Writer
63-year-old Annabelle Greaves said she had to exercise her right to vote as a thank you to former Member of Parliament for St James South, Derrick Kellier, who changed the fortunes of her family when he issued a farm work ticket to her husband during their struggling years.
Kellier, 73, of the People’s National Party (PNP), served as MP for seven consecutive terms since 1989, but has since passed the baton to retired educator Dr Walton Small, setting up a gruelling contest with councillor Homer Davis of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
"He is no longer the MP but I have to pay my respect to him," Greaves, a retired employee in the postal service, told The Gleaner. "He gave my husband a farm work ticket and we could work, put our money together to send our children to university."
She added, "I am up in age and I also have the pressure (hypertension), but they did not let us stay in the sun, so the process was quick. I don't see or know about Davis and although I don't know Mr Small that long but as long as Mr Kellier recommends him, I am fine.”
27,506 Jamaicans are registered to vote in St James South, which is made up of the Catadupa, Cambridge, Maroon Town, and Welcome Hall divisions.
St James Southern
2020
PNP – Walton Small
JLP – Homer Davis
2016
PNP – Derrick Kellier - 6,278
JLP – Homer Davis - 6,216
NDM – Astor G Black - 43
MGPPP – Joseph Hilton - 34
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