Newly-elected Mayor of Port Antonio Benny White, who has become a central figure in the power struggle for Portland between sides loyal to out-going Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Edward Seaga and those supporting party chairman Bruce Golding, says his life and those of persons close to him have been threatened.

White, who took leadership of the council last Thursday with backing from the rivals of his party, told the Sunday Observer late Friday that he was being taken to a safe house.

“As I speak to you, I am in the Port Antonio Police Station. I spent most of the afternoon at the station where I was interviewed by police from St Mary and Special Branch,” he said.

“I have given a statement, and I am now waiting for a patrol car to take me to a safe house.”

The Port Antonio police, who were contacted for verification of the threats, confirmed that Mayor-elect White has been receiving police protection.

But Constable Kevin Esty said he did not see a report of any threat made Friday.

“I am leafing through the station diary for today and I don’t see any reports of threats to Mr White. But it is quite likely because I have seen the police escorting him, even yesterday,” Constable Esty said.

He confirmed that one report of a threat relating to the ongoing political struggle was made Thursday.

The new mayor, who has the support of embattled JLP constituency caretaker/candidate Dr Dennis Minott and is a staunch Seaga supporter, told the Sunday Observer shortly after his selection that he would not give up his position, and speculated that either way he was likely to be killed.

“Listen to me, this is the situation. If I surrender they will kill me. If I do what I want to do, they will kill me. To me, it is better to do something and die for it, than surrender and be killed for it,” White said.

White, in an interview with the Sunday Observer after last Thursday’s meeting of the Port Antonio Parish Council which ousted Mayor Alston Hunter, said the “they” to whom he was referring were supporters of his own party.

According to White, he had been asked, warned, cajoled and threatened not to do anything that would unseat Hunter.

But White, with the support of four PNP councillors, voted in new leadership for the council. Hunter, faced with the possibility of a no-confidence vote, had adjourned the meeting on the grounds that the notice convening the meeting was improper. Hunter said he needed the attorney-general’s office to clarify certain legal points and left the chamber with three of the council’s five JLP members.

White, however, remained and listened as the council’s secretary/manager Franklyn Smith explained that the advice he received from the Attorney-General’s Department was that the meeting had been legally convened.

After Thursday’s vote, JLP officials branded White a power-hungry traitor and said they would seek an injunction in the Supreme Court to prevent him from being sworn in as mayor.

White has been at odds with the reformist faction in the opposition party since he and Dr Minott refused to support James Robertson’s candidacy for deputy leader at last year’s annual conference.

On Friday, White appeared to lay the blame for much of the hostility towards him at the feet of Kingston businessman Daryl Vaz, who was in charge of fund-raising for the Robertson campaign.

Vaz is eyeing Dr Minott’s East Portland constituency as a possible launching pad for his entry into representational politics.

White acknowledged that Vaz had worked very hard prior to last year’s municipal elections which saw the JLP winning a majority in all but one of the island’s parish councils.

His efforts on behalf of the party were also praised by Seaga.

“He (Vaz) came over here and helped me and all the councillors, arranged the finance for us so we were successful in the election,” White admitted.

However, White charged that Vaz was driven by self-interest.

“He doing that (helping the party) was not to help me. It was for himself, because he wants the constituency, and he wants to get the support of all the councillors,” White charged.

Vaz, in response, told the Sunday Observer that his interest in the constituency was no secret.

“That constituency is one of a few in which I have an interest. There is no secret about that,” he said.

However, his membership in the party has been pending for several months.

On Friday, Dr Minott, whose accusation of vote-buying in the November internal elections triggered a firestorm in the party, said that while he had not been threatened, he knew of persons who had been intimidated.

“No one has threatened me, per se. I have received no threats, but I know threats have been issued on other person’s lives,” Minott told the newspaper. “I pray to God that I don’t die just like that, but I have come to terms with what is facing me. And I will just have to do what I have to do,” he said, his voice registering hurt and disappointment.

He insisted, though, that he would not walk away.

On Friday, the Port Antonio police confirmed that individuals attending last Thursday’s council meeting were frisked by cops and scanned with metal detectors.

The police also maintained a strong presence around the environs of the council.

Labour party general-secretary Karl Samuda said Friday that the action that removed Hunter as mayor would be an agenda item at tomorrow night’s meeting of the Standing Committee, which could recommend White’s expulsion.

But White said that if he was expelled from the party, he would likely side with the PNP councillors on council business.

“I will simply sit as an independent candidate and they are still in trouble, because I will not support them. I will vote with the PNP and Hunter will still be out,” he said.