FALMOUTH, Trelawny — It was considered a major upset when the votes were counted following the 2020 General Election and it was confirmed that political newcomer, the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Tova Hamilton, had defeated the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Victor Wright to win the Trelawny Northern seat long considered a PNP stronghold.

Then the young attorney-at-law was making her first step into representational politics against Wright, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), and was considered by many, “a lamb to the slaughter.”

Now Hamilton is considered a little dynamo and will enter the election on September 3 against the formidable Dr Wykeham McNeill, who served four terms as the MP for Westmoreland Western before a surprise defeat in the 2020 General Election.

Trelawny Northern, with 38,331 registered voters, has residents largely employed in hotel, construction, business process outsourcing, and farming, and for decades their main concern has been the persistent lack of consistent water supply and poor road infrastructure.

“Our greatest need now is a regular water supply and better roads. We really appreciate the repair work on the Bounty to Martha Brae and the Deeside roads, but bad roads impact my profit margin because I have to make regular visits to the garages for front end repairs,” a taxi driver, who asked not to be named, told the Jamaica Observer.

Paul Jarrett, a Johnson Hill resident, expressed similar sentiments, but was hopeful that both issues will be ironed out in the next political cycle.

“We have been experiencing water woes… for a number of years but I am confident that Matthew Samuda [minister with responsibility for water] will deliver on his promise to put in a reliable water supply system. We are also hopeful that under the SPARK (Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network) programme the roads will be renovated. But the maintenance of the roads will be extremely important,” said Jarrett.

The residents’ cry for better roads and a consistent supply of potable water is well known to Hamilton, who pointed to the completion of more than 70 projects in the constituency under her stewardship.

According to Hamilton, she successfully advocated the long-overdue rehabilitation of several roads, including two phases of the 16-kilometre stretch between Falmouth and Springvale.

She told the Observer that long-overdue basic infrastructure is now being introduced to several communities in the constituency.

“It is really a work in progress. A lot needs to be done because we are way behind. So even what I have done in my first term is still not sufficient. But we can’t afford to turn back the progress,” said Hamilton.

“We still have many communities which need intervention like water, electricity, road. We still have communities which need development. You have communities that have been asking for community centres, for example. You have people wanting play fields. We need housing,” added Hamilton as she argued that roads are key to development as they attract investments, boost housing opportunities, increase property values and allow residents to feel tangible benefits.

She also announced that some water supply systems are on the cusp of improvement, including the Bellefield Well, which is being rehabilitated for commissioning soon, while work is also underway on the Parnassus Well.

For his part, McNeill said if elected as the next parliamentary representative he will push to ensure the National Water Commission prioritises supplying residents of the parish with locally pumped water before serving customers outside.

“You cannot have this great source of water for the whole north coast, and yet people five miles away, and people in the same communities… have no piped water,” McNeill said.

He criticised the current road rehabilitation works as piecemeal, pledging instead to implement a more structured approach that will include proper planning, drainage, and maintenance.

The former Government minister also underscored the importance of water, roads, and a comprehensive street light programme to the parish’s development.

“We will have the renovation of roads planned properly. It’s one thing to develop the road, but then you have to put in place drainage and maintenance,” McNeill said.

“Let’s just say the water and the road are critical to the development of the parish and a proper street light programme… because it’s the safety reasons, and others, [why] you will have to have a proper street light programme,” added McNeill.

In the meantime, Hamilton pointed to her plan for a 4.9-acre residential development, under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) programme.

“My HOPE housing is a development rather than a single house. So that project is coming on stream. I have more than 20 families who will benefit from my HOPE housing development… We have other types of housing developments coming, including the low-income Dry Valley Housing Development,” said Hamilton.

For McNeill, more training centres are needed in the constituency to prepare people with the skills needed to meet the demand for jobs from hotel developments in the parish such as the long-awaited US$1-billion Harmony Cove Resort Project.

“If you don’t put the training centres in place… then people come from all over the world and take those jobs, and you will be left with outsiders occupying your space, and you have not actually developed as you should. So we have got to create the opportunities for our own here in Trelawny,” McNeill said.

The JLP won the first election contested in Trelawny Northern in 1944 and held the seat until the PNP’s first victory in 1976. In 1980 the JLP regained the seat through Keith Russell and kept it in 1983 when the PNP did not contest.

But Desmond Leakey returned the constituency to the PNP’s win column in 1989 and held it through the 1993 election before handing over to Wendel Stewart who kept it for the PNP in 1997.

Come 2002 it was the turn of the PNP’s Patrick Harris, who retained the seat in 2007, before fellow Comrade Patrick Atkinson secured victory in 2011. During that period the PNP candidates secured victories with margins of between 1,500 and 3,000 votes.

In the 2016 contest the PNP’s Wright enjoyed a victory over the JLP’s Dennis Meadows but with a margin of just 449 votes, in what was perhaps a signal to the Comrades that their hold on Trelawny Northern was coming to an end.

This came through on September 3, 2020 when Hamilton became the first female to be elected as MP for the constituency.

PNP candidate for Trelawny Northern Dr Wykeham McNeill (right) listens to returning officer Ivanhoe Gordon on nomination day.

JLP supporters out in their numbers to support Tova Hamilton on nomination day.

Scores of McNeill supporters take over Falmouth on nomination day.

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