JAMAICA Labour Party (JLP) supporters in the Kingston Western community of Denham Town are confident their party will be elected to serve a third-consecutive term in power, and they are adamant that this is the right choice for Jamaicans.

“How can you vote against a Government that is doing so many things? A back way you want to go?” declared one male JLP supporter when the Jamaica Observer visited the community last week.

He argued that the current Andrew Holness-led Administration is the best Government he has experienced in Jamaica in his 57 years on Earth.

“I am a public sector worker and I have never seen public sector workers get 20 per cent raise. I never see Jamaicans get a tax refund. Crime drop to the standard weh it drop to, that has never happened before,” added the male as he pointed to a 42 per cent decrease in murders between January 1 and June 28 this year, when compared to the same period last year.

According to the resident, who asked not to be named, the main reason for the decline in murders — and major crimes, in general — is that the police have stepped up in terms of how they execute operations.

“They [the police] are putting down their feet and their strategy is working. They seem to be using the gunmen’s strategy against them. They are intimidating the gunmen so they have to succumb to them at all times. The next thing again is that cameras are locking down the place. Some man used to come and pose up with their guns, but now, with the cameras, they know they are being watched.

“By the time you go to your bed, your door is being kicked off and the police are not asking any questions. One time a man will walk with his gun, but nowadays, they are not allowing you to see it. Things are not like one time. The police are not partial. Anyhow Jamaica goes back to the PNP [People’s National Party], crime is going to go back up. The first thing the PNP will do is take away all zones of special operations (ZOSOs). The PNP is not going to stand up on crime,” charged the man, despite the PNP’s repeated support to extend the ZOSOs in Parliament.

Another male resident of the JLP stronghold, who also did not wish to be named, pointed to the programmes implemented by the Holness-led Administration to assist youth.

“The man [Holness] has a HEART[/NSTA Trust] programme that is paying you to go and learn a skill. The man said he wants to get rid of all gunmen. He said these youth have progress in them and they are supposed to be working. How can you vote against this? The PNP says it is for the poor, but right now we are burning out poor. We are looking forward. The world has to be looking at Jamaica right now for punching above its weight,” declared the agitated resident.

On Victoria Street in the community, residents who spoke with the Sunday Observer were uniform in their claim that if JLP loses the general election, which is expected shortly, it would be indicative of backward thinking of Jamaicans.

“If Andrew Holness lose the election, Jamaican people fool. They don’t have any sense; they don’t know what is good. I am 77 years old and from me born until now, a di best prime minister I ever see in Jamaica,” one elderly man said as his friends and neighbours agreed with him.

Denham Town has traditionally provided a solid block of votes for the JLP in the Kingston Western constituency, which the PNP has not won since the 1959 General Election.

The constituency has provided Jamaica with three prime ministers — Sir Alexander Bustamante, Edward Seaga and Bruce Golding. It is now held by the JLP’s Desmond McKenzie.