FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament-elect for Trelawny Northern, attorney-at-law Tova Hamilton has credited much of her victory over Dr Wykeham McNeill of the People’s National Party (PNP) to the strong support she received from youth voters. She believes they played a decisive role in securing her second-consecutive term.

Up to late Thursday afternoon during the final count for the September 3 General Election, Hamilton’s tally of votes stood at 8,233 to McNeill’s 7,829.

“I think this election was won by the young people, definitely. That was, for me, one of the major wins where this is concerned. The young people believed in what I am doing, and they wanted me to continue. They’re able to associate with me, and they are the ones who really pushed out. A majority of them got some of their older people to vote for me. I think that made a difference, as well. This election was won by the young people in Trelawny,” Hamilton told the Jamaica Observer.

“I want to say thank you to the people who believe in the vision that I have brought for Trelawny Northern. I think they recognise what I’m trying to achieve and so whatever confidence that they have placed in me, I will not disappoint them,” she added.

In her first taste of victory, Hamilton ended the PNP’s more-than-30-year dominance in the constituency when she defeated Victor Wright by 1,700 votes in 2020. Now, with another win under her belt, she is convinced that being a daughter of the soil also gave her an edge over McNeill, who is a Westmoreland native.

“A lot of people know me, either know my family, went to school with me, have some kind of association with me. I think the other party, people just didn’t know who he was. People were willing to vote on party lines, just because. But they didn’t really know him,” she argued.

Looking ahead, Hamilton spoke of plans to develop more than 20 homes on 4.95 acres of idle government land in Hague under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) programme. Unlike most HOPE projects, which rely on beneficiaries owning land, this initiative will provide both land and housing, targeting residents who otherwise could not benefit due to lack of land ownership.

“I went and did my research, identified lands that the Government owned. I have pretty much a listing of some of those properties that I plan to utilise, because it makes sense to do something with idle land rather than have people squat on it and then there’s no structured development,” Hamilton reasoned.

“We have some other housing projects coming out. We have some low-income housing projects coming: Dry Valley with the NHT [National Housing Trust], that is coming on stream soon. You will hear more about that, but that’s another one that will be a very big one. We have some other housing projects coming but I don’t want to discuss them yet, until they reach somewhere. The ones I have disclosed already, I know they’re already in implementation phase,” she added.

Hamilton also revealed plans for continued road rehabilitation, highlighting her past successes in this area. Those include the long-overdue upgrade of several roads, notably the 16-kilometre Falmouth-Springvale stretch, where two phases have been completed and a third is expected under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) programme. In the meantime, patching work will be done with funds allocated to provide short-term relief for motorists.

Hamilton said she will hit the ground running with road repairs, including the Martha Brae – Smith’s Crescent Road, Jones Avenue Road in Duanvale, the completion of Friendship Road which was delayed by the elections, as well as the Cockseath Road in Sherwood Content and the Daniel Town School Road, both of which are set to begin shortly.

“We have those that we’re going to hit the ground running with. We have projects that we can pretty much start right now,” she revealed.

Efforts to get Dr McNeill’s post-election reaction proved futile as calls to his cellular phone went unanswered.

Tova Hamilton and her uncle, attorney-at-law Courtney Hamilton, in Falmouth on nomination day.