THE Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Duane Smith, who was one of three candidates nominated on Wednesday to contest the November 22 by-election in the St Andrew North Western constituency, sought to captivate the minds of constituents in order to pull out votes by promising that their bad roads will be fixed.

Smith, who was nominated at 1:16 pm at the Pembroke Hall Community Centre in the presence of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Desmond McKenzie, Dr Christopher Tufton, and other ranking members of the JLP, said the road repairs will take place under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) Programme. The SPARK programme represents one of Jamaica’s largest road and water infrastructure repair initiatives.

The other two people who were nominated as independent candidates were Rohan Banks and Carl Marshall. Banks was nominated at 10:11 am, while Marshall’s nomination took place at 10:40 am.

“Thank you Deputy Leader [Desmond McKenzie], Minister of Finance [Fayval Williams], and prime minister for coming here. It is my time now and I am very prepared for the job. Labourites, a lot of work has been done over the last couple of years. I am here to add to the work that has already been done. I said to the prime minister and Desmond McKenzie, the deputy leader, who is responsible for local government and community development, that North West St Andrew has a road problem.

“We have a lot of roads that need to be fixed. Happily our newly minted finance minister has said that resources are not going to be a problem. Finally, under the leadership of the Honourable Dr Andrew Michael Holness Jamaica is now in a position to properly finance the real rehabilitation of roads. I will be advocating assiduously to get North West St Andrew its fair share of the $45-billion SPARK programme,” Smith said, attracting loud cheers from scores of JLP supporters outside the community centre in Pembroke Hall.

The JLP’s Delroy Chuck, who is minister of justice and Member of Parliament (MP) for St Andrew North Eastern, told the Jamaica Observer that “absolutely no one else”, apart from a JLP candidate, can win the St Andrew North Western seat.

“Duane’s father, Derrick Smith, made this a safe Labour Party seat, and during the six years of Nigel Clarke a lot of support was given to the seat. There is a lot more work to be done and I have no doubt that Duane will continue to support the facilities and also to support all the people of North West St Andrew,” Chuck said.

Smith’s father represented the people of St Andrew North Western for roughly 30 years as MP before he resigned in 2018. Following his resignation, Dr Nigel Clarke, who ran on a JLP ticket, was elected on March 5, 2018 as MP of the constituency. Clarke, who was minister of finance, resigned as the MP after being appointed a deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund in August. His last day as minister was October 30.

Given that two independent candidates entered the race on Wednesday, Prime Minister Holness highlighted that nothing should be taken for granted and encouraged party supporters to ensure they vote to secure Smith’s victory.

“First, let me thank all of you for finding the time in the middle of the week, just after Tropical Storm Rafael, to come out and show your support for Duane Smith, the Jamaica Labour Party, and the Government. You are the reason why our democracy works. For all of you standing up here in the sun to support Duane Smith, it means a lot to me, and I am sure it means a lot to him, and I want to thank you. I gather there are two other candidates who have nominated so, essentially, this is a contested election. My message to our supporters, to concerned residents, to electors in this constituency is to take the election serious and come out and cast your ballots in favour of Duane Smith,” Holness urged.

The prime minister told the constituents that he was well aware that there is a great deal of frustration in the public due to the deplorable road conditions. He said the problem will be fixed but begged for the understanding of constituents, explaining that there are certain procedures that have to be followed in order to not run into problems.

“Even as we walked to this nomination centre I was observing potholes in the roads. The potholes didn’t happen overnight. The potholes were clearly created by heavy rains and water storing in the road. Some of the road conditions we have seen are just as a result of the age of the roads. Right where we are in this community, which was built in the 60s, many of these roads were never repaired from the time they were built. The asphalt has reached its useful life. In this community I can see where there is significant residential construction taking place. This is a community where you have an increase in the number of persons living here.

“With that increase in the number of residents, we also note an increase in the number of cars. So, yes, road conditions are affected by weather and climate, by decades of underinvestment in the repair and maintenance of the road, but it is also affected by the country doing better. People are adding on buildings and buying vehicles which add to the wear and tear of the roads. Our candidates have formed the view, based upon the reports that come back to us, that the road situation is now at a crisis level and we now have to start to reflect that attention on roads in the budget.

“What is different now than 20 years ago, 10 years ago? What is different is that the Government is in a better position, in terms of its management of the economy, to not only make a promise that you are going to be pothole free and there is no means and way of doing that. What we are doing now is to make sure that we focus on the economy, that gives us the wherewithal, the resources to be able to address the things that matter to you…I am not asking for your patience, I am asking for your understanding. Once you start to develop an understanding of the problem, then you will know how to deal with it,” Holness said.