After relatively comfortable victories in the 2011 and 2016 general elections, Julian Robinson is aiming to make it a hat-trick of victories in St Andrew South Eastern on September 3, but this time he is facing a formidable foe.

Robinson, the general secretary of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), will come up against one of his former Comrades, Kari Douglas, a two-time winner of the constituency’s Trafalgar Division in local government elections, and the daughter of a former PNP Member of Parliament for the constituency, the late Easton Douglas.

But the urbane Robinson is going into the battle expecting another victory despite clear indications from Douglas and the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) that they are gunning for his seat.

“I never take any of my elections for granted. I have consistently worked from I became Member of Parliament and I continue to do the work. I take opponents seriously — all three that I have had so far — but I am very confident that I will retain the seat on behalf of the party come September third,” Robinson told the Jamaica Observer late last week.

“Everybody will tell you I work consistently. I don’t wait on an election. I have been doing my work since I was elected. My view is that once you get elected, you have to work. It is like an exam, you don’t wait until the last minute to cram, and I am confident that I will be the Member of Parliament when the votes are counted,” declared Robinson.

He scoffed at claims by his opponent that he should be given the boot because he has not done any work in the constituency and has under-represented the people.

“To respond to that, I will start with some of the principles that I have operated on; first, the principles of accountability and transparency. I have done constituency reports every year and I have consultations twice each year with residents to get their suggestions, recommendations, and feedback on projects that they want and we use the information to implement projects,” said Robinson.

“On the education side I have instituted a programme in conjunction with three educational institutions — EXED (Excelsior Community College), IUC (International University of the Caribbean), and Conerstone Ministry — and these were deliberately chosen for their geographic locations.

“EXED on Mountain View Avenue for those in Vineyard Town and Nannyville, IUC for Swallofield and communities around there, and then Cornerstone for the residents of Woodford Park, Slipe Road and those areas of the constituency,” Robinson told the Sunday Observer.

The two-term MP said more than 700 people have been trained and certified over the years because he recognises that the way to empower and uplift people is through education.

“So we have devoted a significant amount of time and effort to that. In addition, we do the standard things like providing support to students from basic to secondary and tertiary levels, but we have also implemented other things such as an annual summer school programme, which we do in all the major communities in the constituency,” said Robinson as he pointed to a special math summer camp which he started last year.

He said he was especially proud of the health centre which now operates in Nannyville Gardens. The health centre was originally built in the 1970s when the community was developed but was not operational until 2015 and now serves residents of several communities along the Mountain View Avenue belt.

Robinson admitted that the housing stock in sections of the community is in need of improvement, but argued that this needs a national urban renewal plan which a future PNP Government will implement.

But Robinson said even without this plan there have been some housing developments in the constituency over the last 10 years and this is slated to continue with the National Housing Trust working on a programme on Third Avenue in Vineyard Town.

“So there are a number of things which we have done, there is a lot more to be done but I believe that I have performed as a Member of Parliament and that record is what will carry me through,” said Robinson.

“If you look at my track record over the eight, almost nine years that I have been Member of Parliament, you will see what I have done with the infrastructure development… but most importantly I have used education as a tool of empowerment,” added Robinson, who also displays his Constituency Development Fund expenditure on his website and who launched a ‘Tell Your MP’ initiative where constituents are able to give suggestions and ideas using a website and an app.

ST ANDREW SOUTH

EASTERN

How constituents voted in

the February 2016 General

Election

PNP 5,866

JLP 3,804

MGPPP 33

Votes rejected 197

Total votes 9,900

Voter turnout 46.96%

Total electors 21,081

(MGPPP = Marcus Garvey

People’s Political Party)

Source: Electoral Commission

of Jamaica