CAMBRIDGE, St James — The two candidates vying to represent the St James Southern seat in the September 3 General Election have vowed to implement plans that will rid the once quiet and peaceful community of Cambridge in the constituency of crime and violence.

Mayor of Montego Bay and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor for the Cambridge Division, Homer Davis and former high school principal, Dr Walton Small of the People’s National Party (PNP) will contest the seat that has been represented by the PNP’s Derrick Kellier since 1989.

In recent years there have been numerous reports of incidences of crime and violence in the once-bustling Cambridge community.

Just last month the community was in the spotlight after one of the country’s most wanted men — 25-year-old Delano Wilmot, alias Prekeh Boy — was shot dead by members of a joint police/military team during an operation in Amity, a section of Cambridge.

Wilmot, the reputed leader of the Retrieve Gang (otherwise called Prekeh Gang) who was from Retrieve in St James, is said to have driven fear into residents of Cambridge and surrounding communities as these were areas where he and his cronies reportedly carried out extortion, robberies and killings.

Dr Small said should he win the seat, training and the certification of people will be high on his agenda.

“I walked through the constituency and I do not like what I see in terms of the young people not being certified [or] trainable. When you do not have trained and certified people within your constituency there’s free time to do nothing. Those young men who have skills and they cannot manage themselves academically, well we are going to join with HEART [/NSTA] Trust to go to their areas of work and certify them on the job. You get them certified, you get them trained, [and] you get them qualified so that they can go and work and [then] you [will] have little and no crime in the place,” Dr Small argued.

He added that emphasis will also be placed on a “values and attitude” campaign.

“The values and attitudes in our country are bad. Our people, they are coarse. We must get back to the time when we say good morning, thank you, open the door for the ladies….once upon a time we used to go to the dance, it used to be a man and a woman, you go to the dance nowadays and the woman on one side and the men on one side. We have to get them back to understand the values and attitudes so that they can live in peace and quiet,” he argued.

“It makes no sense that you have a lot of money, are rich, and you can’t live peacefully among each other. And, therefore for me, values and attitudes will be a main focus so that we can wipe out this crime,” expressed the PNP candidate.

Mayor Davis, a former member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, argued that while crime is the problem of the security forces, he is willing to work with them to have the issue addressed.

“I have always said that crime is really [the] security forces’ problem, but I am prepared to work with our security forces to ensure that the communities and the constituency that I represent have a level of peace and tranquillity; the people can go about their lawful business and go about being happy and enjoy the prosperity of life,” stated Mayor Davis.

The constituency, which is comprised of several farming communities, has two small towns – Cambridge and Anchovy.

The ruling JLP controls three of the four local government divisions – Cambridge, Maroon Town and Welcome Hall.

The fourth was represented by the PNP’s Gladstone Bent before he was booted from the St James Municipal Corporation in June after he failed to attend there consecutive monthly general meetings.