Wild celebrations among comrades in MoBay

MONTEGO BAY, St James — There were wild celebrations in sections of the resort city of Montego Bay last night as People's National Party (PNP) supporters took to the streets to celebrate the party's victory in three of the five constituencies in the parish.

"I feel good and so excited because we have suffered for so long," an elated Sueann Chang told the Observer last night.

According to preliminary results, the Opposition PNP was victorious in the constituencies of West Central St James, where Sharon Ffolkes Abrahams defeated Mining and Energy minister Clive Mullings and South St James where veteran PNP politician Derrick Kellier defeated the JLP's Homer Davis.

The PNP also won the newly created Central St James constituency. In that seat the party's candidate Lloyd B Smith, a newspaper publisher and Observer columnist, defeated councillor Heroy Clarke of the JLP.

Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett managed to hold on to the East Central St James seat after a strong challenge from the PNP's Cedric Stewart, while Water, Housing and Environment minister Dr Horace Chang handed the PNP's Henry McCurdy his second defeat in consecutive general elections.

Last night, a dejected Bartlett told the Observer that the poor road conditions in the parish, as well as the "economic crisis" had contributed to the party's less than stellar performance in St James.

"Everywhere you go supporters were telling you that they were upset about the poor road conditions and that had a significant impact on the outcome of the election," said Bartlett.

Efforts last night to get a comment from the winning PNP candidates in St James were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, polling in the parish throughout the day was peaceful and smooth.

A noticeably large presence of the security forces was observed in a number of communities in the parish.

The police say the day's activities went without any reports of incident.