McKenzie urges Labourites to back Slowley for re-election in PNP-dominant seat
Published:Tuesday | July 8, 2025 | 12:11 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Deputy Leader Desmond McKenzie says the St Elizabeth North Eastern constituency must never return to the fold of the People’s National Party (PNP), urging voters to give Delroy Slowley a second term in office.
McKenzie, who spoke briefly during a road tour in the constituency on Monday, said the opposition party has no interest in developing St Elizabeth North Eastern, which it held for more than three decades, because it would still pull the votes required to win.
He told onlookers and supporters on the tour that in Slowley, they had a good member of parliament.
“I want you not to get carried away by the mischief of the PNP. I want you to stay focused during the election campaign, because this constituency must never ever go back to the PNP. You hear what I say? Unuh must never go back to the PNP because they have nothing to offer you,” McKenzie told bell-ringing Labourites, who repeated chants of “Shower Labourites!”.
Since the constituency was first created and contested in the 1959 general election, the JLP has won it only three times.
Prior to the September 2020 general election, the JLP last won St Elizabeth North Western in the December 1983 general election, a snap election the PNP did not contest. Outgoing member of parliament for St Elizabeth North Western, William J.C. Hutchinson, was the successful JLP candidate then, having also won the contest in the 1980 general election.
“The only thing they care about is the votes. They have made no attempt over the years to develop this constituency, because they believe that the people here will support them, whether or not they do good or they don’t do anything at all.
“So, I want you to continue to choose to support Delroy Slowley. Choose the Jamaica Labour Party, choose Jamaica, and choose Andrew Holness to continue to lead Jamaica,” said McKenzie.
He said under the JLP, the country is better off, and urged voters to ensure that Slowley is returned to the House of Representatives.
JUST A MATTER OF TIME
Meanwhile, he said with property issues now resolved, it is just a matter of time for work to commence on the Balaclava Fire Station to give residents of nearby communities closer access to the Jamaica Fire Brigade’s (JFB) services.
The announcement comes five years after JFB Commissioner Stewart Beckford indicated that the entity was looking to identify a suitable site in Balaclava to construct an additional fire station to serve the parish.
Three years later, in June 2023, McKenzie announced that plans were advanced for the construction of the fire station, after touring two possible sites in the community that borders the Manchester parish.
“I have been given the assurance by the Jamaica Fire Brigade that by the end of July, all the necessary protocols will be completed and that by September/October, they will start to move into [focusing on] the new facility in Balaclava,” he added.