Name: Donald Colomathi

Date of birth: August 27, 1955

Constituency: East Central, St James

Background: The married father of five was born at John’s Hall in the parish, and later moved to Orange, where he attended the Orange Basic School, Sudbury All-Age and then Salters Hill All-Age. He later went to the Green Island Secondary School and then on to the Granville Industrial Training Centre where he did a course in Industrial Engineering.

After graduation, he worked as an industrial engineer for four years in the John’s Hall area and then he went into business. He currently operates a haberdashery/grocery in Montego Bay and another at John’s Hall, where he now lives. If successful, Colomathi said he would serve as a parliamentarian for 10 years only, and then make way for young blood.

Why vote for him: “I am one of those persons who my word is my bond to a great extent. And even against the wishes of others I am inclined to go where my conscience sets me free. In my effort to govern, my conscience is going to be my guide, and I will keep one that is good and clean. The cry is representation and I really want to make a difference so I want to be on the ground with the people.

My advent into politics was my commitment to community development, and eventually it became the vehicle that I could be engaged with to really bring about what I perceived as community development. It wasn’t about the power or the glamour, nor the gains or the scarce benefits.

Overall, I have provided leadership. I have been engaged in all aspects of community life. I have a reasonably good relationship with the education fraternity and the religious fraternity. I am a very active member and treasurer of the Spring Mount Consultative Committee and a Justice of the Peace (since 1995). I have served 15 years in Council. I won three times as a councillor. I assisted in winning three other times for the (current) Member of Parliament, (Violet) Neilson. That means I have been a part of a six-time victory for East Central St James for the People’s National Party.

“I have made an impression on persons from all walks of life in the constituency, from education to agriculture, to sports and recreation to cultural development to infrastructure development… and therefore I think I am well loved in the parish, nationally, and even regionally. No one can challenge my commitment to nation building and overall community development. It has been my main focus from ever since and it will always be. It is much more than being a PNP MP, it is that we want to see our people’s quality of life develop.”