JLP honours 250 agents, delegates, workers in St Mary

ANNOTTO BAY, St Mary:

Approximately 250 party workers from the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in Southeast St Mary were recognised for their service and dedication at an awards ceremony held last Friday night, witnessed by party leader and Prime Minister, Dr Andrew Holness.

The awardees, whose ages ranged from 40 to 75 years, were the recipients of trophies and gifts, which was provided by Member of Parliament, Dr Norman Dunn, at a function held at the Annotto Bay High School in the parish.

“So very often we forget the party workers in this noble party, who are the backbone of (our) success,” said Holness.

“Tonight is a night of acknowledgement and saying thanks and expressing gratitude. In February 2024 we faced the public, and I decided after that it was important to consult the workers of the party, to figure out what were some clear that we did not (do to) mobilise the full effort and energy of our worker core. And from those consultations several things were discovered. One of them was how our members of parliament serviced their constituency; and we found that there were many issues there.

“Since then we have put measures in place to ensure that our members of parliament were in their constituency, facing their constituents. Even if they were not able to satisfy all the demands, but they must be there. From our survey we also found that the workers felt that they were unappreciated or under appreciated. And therefore we decided that we would structure a programme to acknowledge our workers. To say thanks to them, and to ensure that as much as possible we can satisfy the needs of our workers,” he added.

The honourees included indoor workers (agent), outdoor workers (agent), runners, poll clerks, polling division captains, cluster supervisors and delegates.

Seeking a third term

Dunn, who is the seeking a third term in the next parliamentary elections which is constitutionally due by September 2025, expressed delight at being able to acknowledge the services provided by the party workers from Annotto Bay, Castleton, and Richmond.

He spoke of the importance of rewarding party workers for their dedication to the success of the JLP, and expressed thanks to his colleagues.

“Tonight is a celebration for you, the heartbeat of the Jamaica Labour Party in southeast St Mary,” Dunn said.

“The greatness of our party lies not just in our name and our symbol, it lies in our workers. Your unwavering commitment to the people of St. Mary is greatly appreciated. I must recognise and thank our councillors, Richard Creary, Hugh Bryan, and Lenford Danvers, along with our faithful past councillor, Joseph Robinson,” he concluded.