Chester Castle gears up to boot another councillor

Western Bureau:

The Chester Castle division in eastern Hanover, which has had a history of booting sitting councillors deemed non-performers, is moving to replace the sitting Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor, Fearon DeCarish, for the upcoming local government elections.

At a constituency meeting held at the Bethel Primary School in the parish on Sunday, Member of Parliament Dave Brown, who is the constituency chairman, confirmed reports that have been swirling that veteran educator Kaydeen Miles, a former principal of Knockalva Technical High School, will be challenging DeCarish to be the JLP’s representative in the division.

“Ms Kaydeen Miles has applied to the party for the right to challenge the incumbent Fearon DeCarish for the position of being the party flag-bearer in the division,” explained Brown, who intimated that the application has been approved.

DeCarish is one of three sitting JLP councillors in the Hanover Municipal Corporation, the others being Devon Brown, of the Hopewell Division, and Easton Edwards, of the Lucea division, in Hanover Western.

Three former councillors, all sitting mayors at the time, have felt the wrath of the residents of Chester Castle at the polls and internally, after being deemed to be not living up to expectations. The three are former mayors, the JLP’s Vasca Brown and Moncrieffe Leslie; and the PNP’s Wynter McIntosh.

“We nuh play bat up ketch cricket a Chester Castle, we play serious cricket bout yah … if yu nah mek runs, we just drop you offa de team … it nuh matter if yu just a regular councillor or mayor,” a Chester Castle resident told The Gleaner, using cricketing terms to outline a political situation in the division. “Whether yu a Labourite or Comrade, when we put you in fe bat yu must perform … runs must go pon de board.”

The Gleaner understands that during Sunday’s meeting, efforts were made to halt the meeting when the news of Miles’ challenge was announced and a run-off date came up for consideration. Sources close to the situation have revealed that the run-off is slated to take place on December 13, when another constituency conference is scheduled to take place.

DeCarish is reportedly not the only JLP councillor who is poised to face a challenge ahead of the local government elections, as indications are that another councillor, who has not been named, could face a similar situation.