JUNCTION, St Elizabeth — Political friend and foe in this south central parish are hailing the late Derrick Rochester of the People’s National Party (PNP), a five-time member of parliament for St Elizabeth South Eastern, as being among Jamaica’s finest constituency representatives.

“I do not believe any other MP in the history of Jamaica has contributed as much to his constituency in terms of raw development,” said Richard Parchment of the PNP who lost the St Elizabeth South Eastern seat to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party’s Frank Witter in the February 25 General Election.

Councillor Cetany Holness (JLP) who represents the Junction Division which Rochester held for the PNP early in his political career was similarly admiring.

“I don’t think there will be an MP in South-East St Elizabeth that will do as well as Derrick Rochester,” said Holness.

And Witter, who is in his second stint as MP, said Rochester’s example was one he intended to follow and which all political representatives would do well to emulate.

“As a politician on the other side (JLP), I can say that I always admired Derrick who was a close family friend, for his connection with the people. He was always on the ground, always staying close to the people and in terms of his contribution to the constituency he is someone that every aspiring MP should seek to emulate. He was a very effective MP,” said Witter.

Rochester, whose wife Beryl is Custos of St Elizabeth, died at his home in Bull Savannah, south-east St Elizabeth on April 9, after ailing for several months. He was 76.

A trade unionist who rose to leadership of the National Workers Union (NWU), Rochester served as Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Eastern between 1972 and 1980, and from 1989 to 2002, when he retired from active politics.

He is credited with playing an anchor role in the development of fast-growing Junction and for rapid infrastructural improvements in the constituency, in the 1970s particularly.

A recipient of the Order of Jamaica among other honours, Rochester famously established the trade training centre in Junction which was named after him in 2013. He also donated land and raised money for the medical centre in the town.

Admirers also pointed to Rochester’s role in water, road and electricity infrastructure during the Michael Manley-led PNP administration of the 1970s.

Parchment spoke of a rainwater catchment tank building programme launched in south-east St Elizabeth on the strength of strong lobbying by Rochester during the 1970s.

Before that, he said, people in and around Junction often had to walk “many miles” to Spring Ground, close to Alligator Pond, to find water for domestic purposes. “The concrete tank building programme allowed many people to store considerable quantities of water at their home for the very first time and helped the growth of places like Junction,” said Parchment.

He, as well as Evon Redman, MP for St Elizabeth North Eastern and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor for the Pedro Plains Division, Jeremy Palmer, also noted Rochester’s role in the upgrading of the constituency’s road network, much of which was dirt-surfaced prior to his entry to Parliament in 1972. They pointed out also that only a few areas had electricity – a situation which changed rapidly with the Rural Electrification Programme.

“He (Rochester) transformed the infrastructural base of the constituency,” said Palmer, who was Rochester’s political opponent and personal friend during the late 1960s, 1970s and 80s and MP for St Elizabeth SE, 1983-89. Palmer had been campaign manager for Cecil July in the lead-up to the 1980 election when the Edward Seaga-led JLP swept to power by a huge landslide with Rochester among the vanquished.

Len Blake, who succeeded Rochester as MP in St Elizabeth South Eastern in 2002 and was the latter’s campaign director in 1989 and 1993, recalled that especially in his first two terms, Rochester not only led the way in setting up infrastructure for skills training, health, road, water and electricity but “built community centres right across the constituency”.

Parchment and Minister Without Portfolio with responsibility for Agriculture, JC Hutchinson, also drew attention to Rochester’s role in the development of value-added agriculture through his food processing factory, Southern Fruits & Food Processors Ltd in Bull Savannah. Originally built by the Manley Government in the 1970s and subsequently privatised in the 80s, the factory was later acquired by a group led by Rochester.

According to Parchment, the factory, a leading employer of labour in the constituency, became a “saviour for farmers especially during times of glut”.

“He (Rochester) is one who assisted in getting agriculture into a value chain (by means of the processing factory)”, said Hutchinson, who hailed the late parliamentarian as a “personal friend”.

Redman, who as a very young man campaigned with Rochester and the late Sydney Pagon in the 1970s, recalled that Rochester played a vanguard role in the development of the Bellevue Housing Scheme in Southfield.

“In later days I had the honour to serve with him on the RADA St Elizabeth Advisory Board and I was happy to find that Derrick still had the zest for service,” said Redman.

Admirers recalled that Rochester, fondly referred to locally as ‘Daddy D’, had been so intent on serving his constituency as well as the trade union movement that he declined a Cabinet position in 1989.

“I remember Michael Manley saying that Derrick was very qualified to get a Cabinet post but he had indicated that he wanted to remain with his constituency and the union,” said Parchment. And according to Palmer, Rochester “was not concerned about high office, but with representation”.

Holness, who said he made sure to avoid any demeaning reference to Rochester during political campaigns, claimed the late politician avoided partisan behaviour.

“If you look at the processing factory, people work there who are also JLP. I remember my mother was employed by Derrick, although he knew that she voted JLP,” said Holness.

For Mayor of Black River and chairman of the St Elizabeth Parish Council, Everton Fisher, Rochester was the quintessential political representative.

“He enjoyed the respect of both sides because he always stood for doing what an elected representative should do,” said Fisher.