ROSE HALL, St James — Heroy Clarke, who is expected to take on the role of deputy leader for the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Area Council 4, has set his sight on winning all 62 municipal corporation divisions across the region in the next local government election due in 2028.

To achieve that Clarke has called on party members to take a unified message to the streets as part of the campaign strategy.

The JLP Area Council 4 covers the parishes of St James, Hanover, Trelawny, Westmoreland, and St Elizabeth. The party now holds 30 of the municipal corporation seats in the four parishes.

“We must revitalise our councillors and caretakers. Our councillors must be visible, must be working, must be in one accord with the party’s policies and regulations.

There can be no JLP councillor operating as an independent — it’s not going to happen. We are one party, one Government [so] it means one message,” declared Clarke who is at present the sole nominee to replace JC Hutchinson as the deputy leader for the area council.

Clarke accepted the nomination during an Area Council 4 meeting hosted by St James East Central at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St James, on Sunday.

In his acceptance speech Clarke listed leading the JLP through a victorious local government campaign as his first major task. “I am charging every single one of our 16 constituencies, we must re-engage every worker, every branch must be alive by Christmas.

No division must be left unattended,” stated Clarke as he stressed the importance of unity. “We must re-energise our base. We will settle all internal differences, and it must happen now.

After today, there is no North Trelawny or South East St Elizabeth, there is only one Area Council 4. The PNP [People’s National Party] is not our opponent on the inside; they must be on the outside. We must reunite to win,” charged Clarke, the Member of Parliament (MP) for St James Central.

He said the 2028 Local Government Elections will serve as the party’s referendum ahead of the next general election due in 2030.

“A big victory in local government sends an unmistakable message to Jamaica — that the Jamaica Labour Party is still the choice of the people, still in control, that our work in every parish is trusted, and that our organisation on the ground is unmatched,” declared Clarke.

“This Government cannot afford to go into a general election without a dominant victory at the local level.

Winning big in 2028 is how we will secure the stability of the Administration, how we protect the economic gains we have made, and how we give our councillors and our MPs the platform to continue to serve,” Clarke added.

In explaining the importance of local government, Clarke indicated that while central government formulates policy, the municipal corporations deliver it to the people’s doorsteps.

“The roads, the drains, the markets, the water, the poor relief, the building approvals, the care for the infirm, that is local government.

If we do not control the municipalities we cannot deliver in full the prosperity agenda of our leader, the Most Honourable [Dr] Andrew Holness,” stated the nominated deputy leader.

“I am asking you to give this Government a resounding, undeniable, five-out-of-five majority across the west.

Let us leave from this convention centre today, echo it across the hills and valleys, shout it from the mountain tops, spread it across the seas, and tell every Labourite: The road to Jamaica House in the next general election runs straight through the municipal corporation election of 2028,” declared Clarke.