Hamilton wants to unlock Trelawny Northern’s full potential
Published:Sunday | August 23, 2020 | 12:00 AMMark Titus - Staff Reporter
Tova Hamilton, the 37-year-old attorney-at-law and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for Trelawny Northern, is fully aware of the uphill task she faces in her bid to end the People’s National Party’s (PNP) 31-year reign in the constituency. Nonetheless, she is convinced that her all-inclusive approach and organisational skills will yield a victory when the ballots are counted on September 3.
“Canvassing has been positive,” she told The Sunday Gleaner recently. “From the canvassing, we can see that there is a change coming. From the canvass, you can feel that people want to see something new happening in this space.”
Continuing, Hamilton said: “For the past 31 years, there has been a lull. Nothing has been happening. The people are neglected and I think they want a change of fortune somewhat.”
Trelawny Northern has voted predominantly for the PNP since 1962, with the JLP winning the seat only four times.
Elliston Wakeland won the seat for the JLP in the 1962 and 1967 polls before the PNP’s Desmond Leakey won in 1972 and 1976. The JLP’s Keith Russell then took the reins in 1980 and 1983. Leakey retook the seat in 1989 and then won again in 1993 before handing off to fellow Comrade Wendell Stewart in 1997. The PNP’s Patrick Harris (2002 and 2007), Patrick Atkinson (2011) and Victor Wright (2016) followed next.
In the last polls, Wright secured 9,611 votes to defeat the JLP’s Dennis Meadows (9,162) by 449 votes.
“We came shy of 449 in the last election,” said Hamilton. “It means that we must ensure that on the day, we get it right. We have been preparing, but it has not been easy because it is coming from a place where people feel despondent because after 31 years, … but it is our duty to inspire them, give them hope and re-energise not only our support base, but the voting public in general.”
The JLP currently controls three of the five divisions at the municipal level, with veteran councillor Jonathan Bartley representing Wakefield, Donovan White representing Duncans, and Dunstan Harper in Sherwood Content. The Martha Brae and Falmouth divisions are held for the PNP by Phillip Service and former mayor Garth Wilkinson, respectively.
“While Falmouth is seen as a PNP stronghold, this is because the people will always come out and vote, no matter who the candidate is or the situation in the division, but what I found is that they are also frustrated,” Hamilton said. “So we now have three sets of voters, because we have to consider the middle group who are frustrated, and I believe they will show their frustration in due time.”
Hamilton said this frustration stems from a lack of proper representation by the incumbent, Wright.
“Performance? When you use the word performance you imply that some kind of work took place,” quipped Hamilton, who served a short stint in the Senate. “To be honest, there is a lack of representation … . I am sure they have done polls and the polls would reflect exactly what I am saying.
“He has been member of parliament for four and a half years, and there are communities that I go to that they still don’t know him; they have never interacted with him; they don’t know what his vision is for the space,” she added. “I should be the one with that problem because I am just coming, but I do not expect that from someone who is supposed to be providing service to people because it’s all about service.”
Hamilton, a board member of the Tourism Product Development Company, sees many untapped possibilities for the parish capital, Falmouth, and the wider constituency.
“What I did was to go into the communities and speak to the people and create a needs list, and from that list, I did a survey to determine what the priorities are,” she told The Sunday Gleaner.
“From that survey, 78.9 per cent is calling for roads, and where there is no access, there is no development. You have to create access to communities for things to happen in them, and so top priority for us in Trelawny Northern is roads,” she said.
“We can then filter into the other issues such as community engagement,” Hamilton continues. “We have issues with water. Can you imagine that in 2020, there are communities that have never had potable water?
“So, there are a number of things that we will have to address, but one thing we must [note] is that we cannot do all at once and in one term because we have 31 years of neglect to resolve, and so we start step by step in consultation with the people. We can achieve great things.”
Quizzed on her vision for the constituency and the wider parish in the next 10 years, the proud Trelawny native, who placed her career on hold to offer herself to the people, said: “To see Trelawny fulfil its potential as the gateway for economic growth because we have all the raw material to make it happen and we can achieve this with the proper system in place.”
She added: “I have told the people that they can look on me as their investment. Invest in me and I will reap returns for you, because I am fully aware of what the needs are in the constituency. All we have to do is to execute.”