ST JAMES, Jamaica – Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says he is confident that the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will be able to take control of all municipal corporations in western Jamaica.

In fact, Bartlett who is also Member of Parliament for St James East Central, was buoyant when he declared the party is likely to wipe out the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) from the St James Municipal Corporation.

This includes councillor for Granville Division (PNP) Michael Troupe who recently told the Sunday Observer that “not even Prime Minister Andrew Holness” can unseat him in the upcoming election.

READ: ‘I don’t even have to campaign’

Bartlett was speaking with the Observer Online at a JLP meeting called at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James, which is being attended by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Local Government and Community Development Minister Desmond McKenzie and other party stalwarts.

A date for the long-awaited local government election was announced a short while ago. It will be held on February 26, with nomination day on February 8.

READ: Feb 26 local government election

The election, which was last held in 2016 and was due in November of 2020, was postponed due to the effects of the novel coronavirus despite the holding of a general election two months earlier.

On February 21, 2023, McKenzie told the House of Representatives that Local Government Election which was due earlier that year in February, was postponed for a third time until February 2024.

– Anthony Lewis