DESPITE the tough personal challenges that she faces, former member of parliament and minister of government Enid Maude Bennett says she is still committed to contributing to the development of Jamaica.

Bennett, now 79, has the distinction of being the first and only woman to serve an unbroken 30 years as a Parliamentarian, having served Central St Catherine and later West Central St Catherine in the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1997 when she retired.

Now, the sprightly veteran of largely Indian descent is staying the course and continues to work behind the scenes to ensure that her ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) turns Jamaica into a country in which people can feel comfortable, and satisfied with their level of political representation.

“I am coping, although my pension is very small because in my time we weren’t paid big salaries and, of course, things have escalated since. But I try to cope,” she said during a recent interview at the JLP’s Belmont Road headquarters in Kingston.

Her monthly pension, which she did not want to be made public, amounts to what some members of Jamaica’s elite would blow on booze in one crazy weekend.

Her two adopted United States-based daughters, who have figured prominently in the shaping of her life, help her out when she is in need, but it is the kind of life she leads which has allowed her to remain focused and able to manage the harsh economic times.

“The girls help me out at times,” she said with a broad grin. Although things are rough, I live a simple life. I do my backyard gardening and things like that to help out.

“I believe that most of us parliamentarians who have retired are in a similar position, as our pensions are very small. Some may have other means of survival, but many are forced to live off their pensions,” she said, while suggesting that it would not be a good idea for the Government to offer more in the way of pensions to retired parliamentarians.

“At this time I am sure it’s difficult to take another look at the pension situation,” said Bennett. “I suppose when the economy has improved then the Government may look at this. Government will have to be careful of how they look at us (retired parliamentarians), because there are other pensioners out there.”

Looking back at her 30 years of association with Central and West Central St Catherine, Bennett said that she achieved much of what she set out to.

“Those 30 years were hard work, and I am honoured that I was able to serve for so long,” she told the Sunday Observer. “A lot of things were done in the constituency, like improvement of the roadways, because many of the roads were not asphalted; schools being built and improved, like Bog Walk High, Lucky Valley and Spring Village; community centres like Buxton Town and Point Hill; and I brought electricity to the areas.

“Originally I had communities like Bog Walk, Point Hill and Kitson Town, but Bog Walk was taken off and Ginger Ridge put on. Later Spring Village was taken off,” she explained.

A native of Linstead in the adjoining constituency of North West St Catherine, itself a stronghold of the Opposition People’s National Party, Bennett served among the junior ranks of the state’s executive as minister of state for local government, and later, social security, before acting as minister of social security during the final year of the Edward Seaga administration in the 1980s.

Today, she said she has no regrets about her limited run as a minister.

“It never bothered me that I was not made a full minister, although I acted as minister for a while,” she said. “I got other assignments and the party leader at the time gave me assignments that he thought were best for the country.”

Politics, when she was a member of the House, was slightly different from now, she believes, as there are more people nowadays who depend on their elected representatives for support.

“The demand by people is so great… the previous administration had allowed things to go down and it’s harder on people now,” she said.

“Everybody expects something from this new administration right away and that is not possible. You have to build back the economy first,” she argued.

Not perturbed by challenges for positions in the ruling party, Bennett suggested that recent happenings in the JLP were not indicative of a disunited party, but rather one in which democracy was alive and well.

“We don’t have any internal problems. It is a democratic party and you are free to apply for a position and contest it,” she insisted. “There is no disunity in the party, as far as I am aware, but we are democratic, and people would like to aspire to whatever positions they choose.

“I have no problem with people coming forward and running for positions like area leader, and so on. I ran against Pearnel Charles for Area Council leader and I beat him and we have remained friends,” Bennett said.

As for her secret for winning the hearts of her constituents who stuck with her for the three decades, Bennett underscored the need for elected officials to keep in touch and remain humble.

“Jamaican people like to see their representatives. So those elected need to spend time visiting their constituencies and that’s what I did during my years in Parliament,” she said.

“You have to find time to go into your constituency to let people know what is happening. They look up to you and they want to be associated with you, even if they don’t want anything from you right away, they like you to be around.”

Now the JLP stalwart, who served four JLP prime ministers in Parliament — Sir Alexander Bustamante, Sir Donald Sangster, Hugh Shearer and Seaga — and gained the love and respect of all, has devoted much of her time to home chores and caring for her grandson.

She remains a trustee of the JLP and travels fairly often to Belmont Road where she offers a hand in the running of operational matters.

She is already looking forward to her 80th birthday and hopes that with a spiritual intervention, she may be able to achieve the milestone.

“God has blessed me with good health,” she said.