NEWCOMER ALANDO Terrelonge snatched victory for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) from incumbent Arnaldo Brown of the People’s National Party (PNP), winning the East Central St Catherine constituency with 6,214 votes to Brown’s 5,735 votes.

East Central St Catherine is one of the three new constituencies established ahead of the 2011 general election and is considered a marginal seat. Brown won the seat in 2011 by 558 votes, beating the JLP’s Camile Buchanan.

Last year, Brown said that since taking up office, he spent more than $3 billion to upgrade the constituency and implement various interventions; however, Terrelonge said that he found the pronouncement perplexing given the high level of underdevelopment and poverty across the constituency.

He called for an investigation and breakdown of the reported spending.

Terrelonge said that not much had changed in the four years that Brown was the MP, and the constituents were complaining about his poor performance and continued to beg for community centres and proper infrastructure.

The attorney-at-law, who has been practising for more than 16 years, said that he has always wanted to serve his country, and, in particular, demonstrate to the youth in his constituency how, through education, their humble beginnings could lead to the achievement of their goals.

He said that for the last 18 months, he walked the streets of the constituency and spoke at length about cutting government waste, skills training, growing the economy and creating jobs – the four areas he planned to prioritise during his tenure.

The first-time entrant to the political arena and father of two infant sons said that he decided to enter the fray because “Jamaica needs a change”.

“We cannot all sit and talk, some of us have to make a difference. Plus, I am a beneficiary of the progressive policies of the 1980s JLP under Edward Seaga, and I see our party as the most progressive in the Caribbean”.