There was an unusual move from an Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) during presentations in the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

In what was his maiden presentation, the MP for St Mary South Eastern, Christopher Brown expressed that he was more interested in the people getting the benefit than who gets credit.

He then went on to tell the Parliament that, “We have championed public order and the vision to transform Annotto Bay into the best little town in Jamaica. After one full year of sustained advocacy, work has finally commenced on the long-awaited parking facility and and I want to commend the minister of local government for finding the money to make that happen”.

“I am not interested in the politics of who gets the credit. What had not happened in 20 years is now happening,” Brown added.

He then told the Parliament that, “We wrote the minister of national security about the state of the Richmond Police Station and lock up and today we are almost complete with a newly-refurbished facility.

“And, following Hurricane Melissa, we urged the minister of justice to fast track the rehabilitation of the Richmond Court House and he acted and today we are grateful for the almost finished product,” said Brown.

After acknowledging the Government ministers for their interventions, Brown went into the substantive portion of his presentation. He shared that over $12 million was mobilised through public and private partnerships to support education initiatives in the constituency. These include tertiary tuition assistance, book vouchers, and other back-to-school support.

“And I am particularly proud that every single PEP (Primary Exit Profile) graduate transitioning to high school received a voucher package from the office of the member of parliament,” he told the House.

Brown said millions of dollars in housing assistance was provided, farmers supported, local water supply systems established, the largest football tournament sponsored, and a netball league for young women introduced.

“And because representation must never be confined to an office, we have introduced a mobile constituency office — taking the member of parliament and the services of the office directly to the people,” said Brown.

-Lynford Simpson