The Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) will be the big prize for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP) when the votes are counted tonight, and both parties go into the election confident of victory.

The last time around, 2016, the JLP took control of the KSAMC with 21 divisions to the PNP’s 19, and Delroy Williams was appointed mayor of Kingston, with Andrew Swaby the minority leader.

In the aftermath of that election two councillors who were elected on PNP tickets — Kari Douglas in the Trafalgar Division and Venesha Phillips in the Papine Division — switched sides to the JLP, giving that party an even more comfortable margin.

Now Williams is adamant that the JLP will retain the majority in the KSAMC hanging on to the two swing divisions which made all the difference in 2016 — Rae Town and Hughenden — while capturing the two divisions which it gained through the councillors who switched sides.

“We are going to win the Rae Town and Hughenden divisions quite convincingly. The Rae Town Division is not a one-vote division like the last time. I’m putting it on record now so they can hear because they can do nothing to turn it back. We believe we have done a lot in those two divisions…to improve the space and the lives of the people,” Williams told the
Jamaica Observer on the eve of today’s election.

“They [the PNP] have a problem in terms of their path to victory and they must know that. We will win Papine and we will win Trafalgar and other divisions which will be a surprise to you,” added Williams.

But Swaby, who is widely tipped to be elected mayor if the PNP takes control of the KSAMC, told the
Observer that his party has already mapped out its path to victory.

“There are 21 seats plus that will decide who is in control of the KSAMC. We currently have 19 minus the two councillors who have betrayed the people in their division and have gone to the JLP. We are determined to take back those two divisions and we plan to take some from the JLP.

“The JLP will want to say that it is just about those four seats but they have some other seats that they are not leading in and they don’t want to tell you that, but we intend to win those four seats plus some others,” said Swaby.

He added: “I have seen the path to victory and the fact is that the mayor, for the past seven years, has done nothing for the city and the people will reject him and the JLP candidates. We have done the work, we have talked to people. We have explained our position and come Monday the People’s National Party will have control of the KSAMC.”

That position has been scoffed at by Williams who is adamant that the JLP is comfortable about winning the majority of divisions in Kingston and St Andrew.

“We believe we have done the work, we have done projects, we have a clear vision for Kingston and where we intend to take Kingston. The transformation of Kingston is very clear…and people understand our vision for Kingston albeit we have resources constraints.

“We have renovated more markets than any other Administration in the history of the municipality [and] the PNP in their tenure did minimal if any renovations to the markets. We have done more projects in the downtown space in the transformation of Kingston than any other Administration in the history of the municipality,” declared Williams as he charged that the PNP cannot point to one project that it has done to improve downtown Kingston.

Williams pointed to the major beautification projects in areas of downtown Kingston including Water Lane, Temple Lane, Mark Lane and other areas as signs of the work of a JLP-led KSAMC.

“We have integrated the history and the culture into the space and so people are using the space. Every last Sunday a lot of people are travelling to downtown to enjoy the space and it shows our direction and it shows our belief in local government.

“The only thing that I can remember the PNP did downtown was to tax the handcarts,” said Williams.

In rubbishing that position, Swaby told the
Observer that for the past seven years the JLP has underserved Kingston and St Andrew.

“We have put our cards on the table and we are championing what matters most to the residents of Kingston and St Andrew. We have championed the whole issue of solid waste management because a lot of people their garbage is not collected for weeks.

“We have also championed the issue of more roads and the JLP councillors in the KSAMC have voted against a resolution that asked reallocation of money for more roads to be repaired in each division. We have also championed the issue of getting street lights fixed and there are many other things that we have proposed in the council where the JLP have voted against us, or when they have voted for it, it is pure lip service because they have not done anything to further the cause,” said Swaby.

He said one of the first things that a PNP-led KSAMC will do is to clean up downtown Kingston and make sure that it remains clean.

“You cannot have a city that is dirty, that is stink and those are the reality. I wonder where the mayor [Williams] actually goes to work because right along Church Street [where the office of the KSAMC is located], along King Street, Princess Street, Orange Street, the Parade area, these are very dirty and filthy.

“I can’t talk about a paint job or those things, I have to make sure that the city is clean,” said Swaby.

And as Jamaicans go out to vote today, the two were equally confident that they have done enough to capture the majority of the divisions.

“I believe the people will demonstrate their confidence in our track record, because we have a track record, and they will place their confidence in us to do even greater things,” declared Williams.

While Swaby said: “We have always regarded the KSAMC as the prize and there is no doubt in my mind that the People’s National Party will take home the KSAMC this time around.”