Darliston, Westmoreland – His job as prime minister meant that for the great majority in eastern Westmoreland, television presented the only realistic opportunity to see their member of parliament.

Available evidence suggests however, that whoever takes over the parliamentary seat will be hard-pressed to fill the boots of P J Patterson in terms of constituency representation.

“Mi never see ‘im yet, mi only see ‘im on TV, so sometimes mi wonder if we have MP,” Joy, a businesswoman of Waterworks, told the Sunday Observer during a recent tour of the constituency. “But when it come to the work whe ‘im do, you can see it, especially when it come to water and road. The water especially, and the roads good,” she said.

Dave, a taxi driver plying the New Works to Darliston route, points to the transport centre in Darliston as “one more” Patterson project that has made his life easier.

Beyond that, said Dave, he could remember “the days growing up when we never really have roads in eastern Westmoreland and piped water and all that. he (Patterson) has built and extended most of the high schools, all-age and primary schools. We have a lot to be grateful to Mr Patterson for,” he said.

From Leamington to Darliston, to Caledonia further west, to Bethel Town in the north and Culloden and White House in the south, residents credit the retired MP for improved infrastructure and facilities, including housing schemes, land settlement schemes, health centres, schools, training centres, roads and running water, fuelled especially by the expansive Roaring River scheme.

People’s National Party (PNP) constituency leaders such as Ralph Anglin, who has been constituency secretary since 1959, and Senator Noel Monteith point out with pride that while many projects have been implemented since 1989 when Patterson took on his second stint as MP, many date back to the 1970s when as a young politician he represented what was then south eastern Westmoreland.

In Darliston, for example, they identify the Maud McLeod High School, the first high school in eastern Westmoreland, and the West Best food processing factory, now privately owned but initially a public sector project, as examples of Patterson’s infrastructural legacy from the ’70s.

Despite the general goodwill, Patterson has his critics in eastern Westmoreland. In Culloden, the Sunday Observer was shown the Gilling’s Gully where water backs up and causes flooding during heavy rains. One resident called it a case of “shameful neglect” because the problem has remained for so long.

And ‘Pat’, also of Culloden, spoke feelingly of the very bad parish council roads, not least in Fustic Grove where, according to her, a friend died from an asthma attack while travelling to hospital three years ago “because the road was so bad the driver had to drive very slowly”.

But even his critics, including ‘Pat’, credited the outgoing member of parliament for improved facilities such as “water and light”.

“He (Patterson) has done good work in some areas and I believe he is a good man,” she said.

Councillor Luther Buchanan (PNP – Leamington Division), who expects to take over from Patterson as member of parliament following what political watchers expect will be a by-election prior to national parliamentary elections, said attempting to step into Patterson’s shoes will be challenging.

“It definitely is a very humbling feeling to be taking over a constituency as member of parliament from somebody like Mr Patterson,” he said.

Anglin, who has acted as Patterson’s constituency campaign manager in every election except 1970 when the former prime minister won a by-election replacing the late Maxie Carey, said Patterson “gained the love and respect of the people of eastern Westmoreland” largely because of the “second to none” quality of representation.

But Anglin also identified other reasons which he claimed consistently won Patterson support. Among them an extreme humility that allowed Jamaica’s longest serving prime minister to mix easily with people no matter their social standing, the willingness to forgive even bitter opponents, the ability to listen, and a “phenomenal memory” that allowed him to remember people and personal details years after meeting them.

“I have never seen anybody can listen to people like him,” said Anglin as he spoke to the Sunday Observer at the soon-to-be vacated rented house just outside Darliston, that had served as Patterson’s constituency headquarters for many years.

“No matter who you be, if you come to talk to him he sits down and listens. He is not saying a word. When you talk to him and you finish he will comment if he feels to comment, but he will listen no matter who you be,” said Anglin, who took over as councillor of the Leamington Division in 1976 and served as mayor of Savanna-la-Mar from ’86 to 2003.

And regarding Patterson’s “remarkable, I would almost say photographic memory”, Anglin told the story of how he once introduced the prime minister to ‘chiniman’, an “ordinary member of the constituency”. Anglin shook his head and chuckled as he told how “five years later Comrade Patterson met up with the man again. To my amazement, he said ‘Chiniman, what yu doing here?'”.

That capacity to remember names, faces and detail, Anglin suggested, allowed Patterson to stay in touch with the grassroots of his constituency, even when he was physically absent.

Both Anglin and Monteith said Patterson’s willingness to delegate responsibility to others and to “trust” his constituency workers went a far way.

“Obviously, as a senior minister and then as prime minister since 1992, he couldn’t come to the constituency as often as he would have liked,” said Anglin. “So he had to find reliable people. and he relied heavily on some of us. It worked out very well because he was able to get away with a lot of things (long absences) that an ordinary member of parliament couldn’t get away with.”

For Monteith, trust was crucial.

“He trusted the people who worked for him at the constituency level and he earned their loyalty,” said Monteith.

“Because of the relationship that existed between Comrade Anglin, himself (Patterson) and myself, I can’t remember in 30 years that we ever had a conflict,” he said.

Patterson’s “quiet spirit” apparently impressed all his constituency workers, including the secretary of the constituency office for 20 years, Lorna Graham, and office helper Hyacinth Morris. Both described him as a “wonderful” man who kept them at ease.

Also, Patterson’s “commitment to democracy” meant he never interfered with internal constituency party elections or tried to dictate terms, said Monteith.

His constituency leaders claimed his sense of fairplay kept him always in the good books of the parish councillors.

“He is the first member of parliament that I know of, who gave full powers to his councillors and his councillors spent all his money (allocated to MPS). As a councillor, what you had to do was send him a programme of how you are going to spend the money. He felt that if his councillors are doing a good job it made him stronger as an MP,”, said Anglin.

“He liaised with the people through the councillors,” explained Councillor Danree deLancey (PNP – Bethel Town Division).

For Monteith, an aspect of Patterson, the politician, that will “forever stand out” is his integrity and “commitment to values of decency and order”. Indeed, said Monteith, he ranks Patterson alongside Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King as leading “role models”.

Monteith told of how he “came home” from Canada in 1976 armed with a master’s degree and ready to make a contribution to the Jamaican society. At that time, the Maud McLeod High School had just been opened, and in making his application to take over the institution, Monteith went to Patterson, emphasisng among other things the fact that he was “a comrade” of long-standing.

But Patterson was adamant that he would pull no strings. “He told me that ‘I have put in place a school board and I do not intend to interfere. You have to go through the proper process’,” said Monteith. He confessed that he was a little irritated at first, but “when I thought about it I realised that Comrade Patterson was right .”.

So impressed was he, that Monteith, who actually landed the job at the high school, was to play a lead role in Patterson’s constituency organisation from then on.

And though Patterson would in time become arguably Jamaica’s most successful politician ever, Monteith said the former prime minister’s insistence that victory should not be at any cost heartened and reassured him.

Monteith recalled the bloody 1980 general election campaign, which ended with the Edward Seaga-led Jamaica Labour Party sweeping to victory on the back of a massive landslide, taking every parliamentary seat in western Jamaica, including Patterson’s south eastern Westmoreland.

“I remember an incident in which his vehicle was shot at and there was gun activity in the constituency. And one man, a member of his campaign team, brought it to Comrade Patterson’s attention that the other side was bringing guns into the constituency and that the PNP would not survive if they did not respond in kind.

“I remember holding my breath, because I said to myself as a Christian person, how comrade Patterson responded would determine whether I stayed in politics or not. Then I heard Comrade Patterson say ‘I would never be able to live with myself if I cause one black brother to shoot another black brother. not even a catapul’ and I said to myself Thank God,” Monteith said.

editorial@jamaicaobserver.com