Rowe throws in the towel in West Portland

Businessman Rohan Quest throws his hat in the ring

By HG HELPS Editor-at-Large helpsh@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, December 20, 2009

FOR a flickering moment, politician Kenneth Rowe envisioned himself as the People's National Party (PNP) Member of Parliament for Western Portland. But 10 months after his devastating loss to the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Daryl Vaz, he has all but given up the quest.

Rowe, who got the nod over PNP turncoat Abraham "Abe" Dabdoub to run against Daryl Vaz, now minister of information, in the March 27, 2009 constituency by-election, confirmed that he had quit as constituency chairman and caretaker, but remained a member of the Opposition PNP and part of leader Portia Simpson Miller's task force.

He says he will now concentrate on his doctoral studies.

"I am no longer the constituency caretaker for West Portland. They (PNP) have found a young man with vim, vigour and vitality to represent the people," Rowe told the Sunday Observer in an interview.

That individual, businessman Rohan Quest, has been touring the constituency, trying to make his mark and prepare for a possible face-off with Vaz in the next election, constitutionally due in 2012.

"I am working with Quest. He is a good man and has a different focus for the constituency," Rowe said without elaborating.

However, PNP chairman Robert Pickersgill, while acknowledging that Rowe had quit as caretaker, said that Quest's desire to become the party's representative was still in the embryonic stages.

"He has shown an interest, but right now he is not the caretaker or chairman," Pickersgill said, adding that the party was working to settle the matter of who should represent it in West Portland.

"Right now the party leader is chairing a committee that is dealing with candidate selection, so we are working on it," the party chairman said.

But Vaz said he would take on any comers and, in an interview with the Sunday Observer, declared he was not concerned about who represented the PNP in future.

"I have heard rumours that they have someone else there, but it doesn't matter to me," Vaz said. "I just concentrate on doing my work, because once you keep doing the work, the people will respond.

"I have proven that if you treat the people right, they will look after you. Once you become a successful MP, you become an MP for all by working on projects to benefit them and that is what I continue to do," Vaz added.

Rowe faced Vaz in the by-election after the Supreme Court had disqualified him (Vaz) for holding dual citizenship at the time of the September 2007 general election.

A descendant of the Maroons, Rowe is pursuing a thesis "Influence and importance of small enterprises in rural development" from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.

Rowe, in a March 29 interview with the Sunday Observer had outlined great plans for the constituency which he had previously sought, unsuccessfully, to represent on a JLP ticket.

"I've done all I could in West Portland and therefore someone needs to come with a different perspective," he said Friday, almost echoing statements he made in March after his loss to Vaz. "There has been no bad blood, no animosity at all as a result of my decision to quit as constituency caretaker.

"In fact, after the Prime Minister's presentation last night (Thursday) I decided that all soldiers must be on the battlefield and I would go back into the fray. "I don't know how it will affect my studies, but I am willing to assist the party in whatever way I can," he said.

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Rowe throws in the towel in West Portland