HOPEWELL, Hanover — Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament-elect for Hanover Eastern Dave ‘Spoon’ Brown says the poor representation of the Chester Castle Division in the constituency by his opponent, the People’s National Party (PNP’s) Wynter McIntosh, played a major role in his victory at the polls in Thursday’s battle for the parliamentary seat.

“McIntosh, the PNP candidate in the election, who is also a two-term councillor in the Chester Castle Division, didn’t do much for the division, despite the fact that he had a Member of Parliament who was a PNP and his government was in power,” Brown argued.

He added that the poor road conditions and lack of piped water in the division can attest to the lacklustre performance of the councillor.

According to the preliminary results in the Hanover Eastern constituency in Thursday’s parliamentary election, Brown, a first-time contender for the seat, polled 6,388 votes, while Mc Instosh, who is also the Mayor of Lucea, got 6,023 votes.

Brown said that he came out of the Chester Castle Division on Thursday with almost 500 more votes that McIntosh.

The constituency of Hanover Eastern, which is characterised by poor road conditions, high levels of unemployment and a lack of potable water, was last represented by the PNP’s Dr D K Duncan, who held the seat for two consecutive terms — 2007 to 2016.

In the 2007 General Election, Dr Duncan defeated the then incumbent JLP representative Barrington Gray by 10 votes following a magisterial recount.

Four years later, he beat the JLP’s Paula Kerr-Jarrett by a margin of 264 votes.

“It is really a picture of neglect. In fact, it’s neglect of the highest order,” Brown said of the constituency in a recent interview with the Jamaica Observer, stressing that he will take home the seat for his party by a margin of roughly 300 votes.

He cited then, communities such as Friendship, New Miles, Copse, Lethe, Cascade, Pondside, Shettlewood, Jericho, and Claremount as areas where the wanton neglect is glaring.

Yesterday, Brown told the Sunday Observer that apart from McIntosh’s poor representation of the Chester Castle Division, the constituents bought into his message during the election campaign.

“My message was simple. I went to the people, listened to their issues, and I told them my plans for their communities which have been grossly neglected in recent years, and they really bought into my message of hope and prosperity,” he stated.

With Thursday’s mandate from the constituents, and having listened to their concerns, Brown said that he will be moving post-haste to address some of the issues impacting negatively on the constituency.

“The lack of piped water and the poor road conditions in the constituency are at the top of my list of things I want to start working on,” said Brown, a former member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and a successful Montego Bay businessman.

In the 16 parliamentary elections contested in the constituency since 1944, the JLP has won nine, while the PNP has captured the remaining seven.