PEOPLE’S National Party (PNP) standard-bearer for Trelawny Northern Dr Wykeham McNeill has promised to upgrade the entrance of Falmouth town and Falmouth Market if he is elected Member of Parliament in the general election expected this year.

In a meeting in the town centre, McNeill told PNP supporters that his vision is to transform the gateway of Falmouth into one that is more welcoming, well-kept, and functional for the students who attend school in the vicinity.

“Look at the entrance of the town. It look bushy and unkempt. You supposed to have some palm trees coming down there and a sidewalk so the children walk from school and come into the town,” said McNeil who has long been championing his vision for, “a transformed gateway for Falmouth — one that welcomes opportunity, growth, and progress”.

McNeil pleaded with PNP supporters to help him make a change in Falmouth.

“They have been in power for nine years and the time has come for a change. So, Comrades, are you with us to have the change?” added McNeill.

He argued that Falmouth Market is subpar, and charged that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) abandoned an initiative by the PNP to improve the facility.

“We [PNP] funded the market [and] when I came on tour I could not believe the state of the market, nothing can’t go so,” declared McNeil.

He charged that the current state of the roof in the market is a disgrace and expressed his displeasure at what he said is the neglected state of the vending facility.

“The worst thing is while I was in the market, it started to rain [and] I never know whether I should stand up inside the market or outside the market because rain a ketch me. It is a disgrace,” said McNeil.

The former tourism minister, who tasted defeat in Westmoreland Western in the 2020 General Election, is banking on his past performance as a minister to bring home Trelawny Northern for the PNP.

He has said he is determined to finish the work started by the PNP in Falmouth.

“One of the things I did in 2015 was I went to the board of the Tourism Enhancement Fund and I indicated to them that we were putting together a project. And we put together a project for Falmouth that included Hampden Wharf, street-scape, markets, craft markets — everything. One billion dollars was allocated to start that project,” said McNeil during his official presentation as the PNP’s caretaker/candidate for the constituency.

The JLP’s Tova Hamilton, an attorney-at-law, is the sitting MP for Trelawny Northern.

— Daneilla McLaughlin