A by-election is nowhere on the needs list of North East St Catherine constituents who are to go back to the polls on June 16 to elect a Member of Parliament (MP), a race they say Gregory Mair will win anyway.

Mair, who ran on a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ticket in the 2007 general elections, polling 6,064 votes to the 5,105 of the People’s National Party’s (PNP’s) Phyllis Mitchell, was last Thursday disqualified as sitting MP by the Supreme Court on account of his having held Venezuelan citizenship at the time of the elections. The Jamaican Constitution forbids anyone with sworn allegiance to a foreign power, other than Commonwealth states, to contest a general election.

While the PNP up to Friday had yet to say who would be contesting Mair in the constituency, where roads, running water and jobs are the predominant cry of residents, the race had already been called and the by-election was a waste of good money in the view of most peeople.

“Mr Mair won once and I think he is going to win again. It don’t make sense they call the election over but let them have it to prove a point. What I would like to see are better roads; most times we have water problems around here,” Melissa Harris, 21, a resident of Riversdale, told the Sunday Observer. “I voted last elections but I didn’t vote for Mr Mair but I will give him a try this time.”

For Keneil Palmer, 32, the upcoming by-elections are

a distraction he could well do without.

“So far he is a good MP. He’s working but we really need some work in the area, if a even a factory so young people can learn a skill. But him a go win and by more votes this time. Mi nuh have no bad name fi gi him,” he said thoughtfully.

As to whether the PNP could unseat Mair, he had this to say: “No man, fi dem man don’t stand a chance. Yuh si Mr Mair, him help all PNP; him share the work”.

Just outside the JLP’s constituency office, several green-clad supporters milled around as if anxious to get the campaign going early.

“I’m sure he’ll be returned as an MP, but we are looking for a larger margin. From he came into the constituency, even before he was a caretaker, he has been working. He’s the best we have seen. He is a people person and he’s a developer,” one worker, Andrea, said.

Her counterparts made light of the PNP’s indecision over which of their candidates would run against Mair.

“Him (Mair) a go tek it to dem,” one man said gleefully.

As to the roadwork, which was in progress in several districts all across the constituency, Andrea insisted that it was not in the least bit political.

“Most of it is being carried out by the National Solid Waste Management Authority, with assistance from community members.

“It’s not a political thing, roadwork began long before, not just today,” she said.

In Freedom district, there were mixed feelings about Mair’s stewardship.

“Him good, but mi a go pon di odda side this time. Chicken come an mi nuh get none. Him a do good for some people but nuh fi mi,” one resident, Norma, complained.

Her travelling companion, Keisha Morrison did not share her view.

“Him do very good, him fixing the road. Whether mi get chicken or not, him doing very good,” she said.

“A waste of money” is what it means for residents of Mount Industry.

“Yuh know seh I feel like none shouldn’t run. This is a waste of money. The money should use for roads and water so wi can get some in wi bathroom cause wi have a lot of big house up here but wi still have to carry water on wi head,” one resident, who gave his name as Mr Hall aka “Handsome”, pointed out. “A jus di labourite dem a go vote but him a go win still. Mi si him as a likkle man who look like him wi try. Him done win areddy.”

For Claudette Taylor, it was first thing’s first.

“Right now I need a job and there is nothing to do. It nuh mek sense. The money must fix the road and get water, that’s what we are short of right now,” she said practically.

In Glengoffe, there was no love lost between Mair and some individuals there.

“From mi deh here none of them nevah gimme nutten yet. Mi nah vote fi missah Mair, a di odda man mi a vote fah,” one female, who refused to give her name volunteered.

“Get rid a missa Mair, him mash up di community, send him back a Venezuela,” her male counterpart added.

Andrea, one of a small group of people painting the PNP constituency office in the centre of the district a blaring orange, thinks the timing is all wrong.

“No by-election shouldn’t run yet, the country done gone dung. Them nuh have no money to spend, wi done a suffer wid di taxes. What mi nuh like wid Mr Mair is that if him know yuh from di odda side him don’t stop and talk to you. He is not for the poor. Him must do tings fi di two party,” she said.

She added that the PNP’s Granville Valentine, who is rumoured to be the party’s running man in place of Mitchell, stood a cut above Mair.

“Valentine come from around here, he is from Mizpah. Him believe in fixing roads and creating jobs. Him don’t believe in handout. If the people them nuh have no sense, him (Mair) wi win. I seh put the people in jobs and they won’t have time to turn pest to yuh,” she said, accusing Mair of giving handouts to win votes.

In Gobay, a former troubled spot in the remote area, a dejected group of residents gathered under a shop piazza to escape the rain were disinterested to say the least.

“Wi don’t have a thing to seh, wi neutral,” the sole female in the group volunteered. “All wi want a food. Wi want job; wi si all new $5,000 bill a come in but wi can’t even change the $500 bill much less.”