HIGHGATE, St Mary — Retired superintendent of prison in the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), Clement Clunis believes in second chances.

That’s why he has launched a programme that offers individuals who have run afoul of the law a chance to learn new skills in the poultry business.

“This is an opportunity to start afresh; it is a big help for them and a positive way to start over,” Clunis told the Jamaica Observer.

He said there has been positive feedback to the initiative and he hopes it will be sustainable. It ties in with his wider vision for the Highgate Division which he is confident he will be elected to represent. This will be his second attempt to dethrone the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Paul Fyffe. Highgate is one of four division in St Mary Central which is now evenly split between the two major political parties.

Clunis believes Fyffe has not done enough for residents and this has left the door open for him to win.

“I entered politics to be an agent of change. I think I can uplift the standard of living for people in the division through more educational opportunities and a broader aspect of agriculture,” he told the Observer.

“Agriculture is a sustainable development that can create long-term, life-changing prospects for persons, it can become an income [stream] for persons and their family,” he said.

He wants to see a processing plant in the area, which residents can use to produce goods for both the local and international market.

“In St Mary a lot of fruits are wasted seasonally and this way is a good way to teach new skills,” argued Clunis, who said farmers would play a major role in this development.

Clunis also wants to see the issue of land ownership addressed as he is concerned that too many Highgate residents are living as squatters and the chance of owning property is far out of their reach.

“What I would seek to do is to work with agencies, owners of large lands, which are not being utilised, to see where these persons can access it to as far as to owning it,” he explained.

“It is time for a change to greater and better things in the division,” Clunis said resolutely.

In the 2016 elections, Fyffe received 1,560 (73.4 per cent) votes while Clunis received 565.