Elderly Vow To Stick With PNP, But Want Development In Admiral Town

By: Admin

Image caption: Kenyon Hemans/Photographer Seventy-year-old Admiral Town resident Cherry Creary, who has voted in every general election since age 21, says she will be backing Mark Golding to retain the St Andrew Southern seat.

Seventy-seven-year-old Admiral Town resident Cherry Creary says she is sticking with the People’s National Party (PNP) despite opinion polls showing the odds stacked against the Opposition as Jamaicans head to the polls today.

Revealing that she has been voting since age 21, she told The Gleaner that no other party can match the “outstanding” record of the PNP and that the St Andrew Southern incumbent, Mark Golding, only needs a full term in the seat to bring about the changes to regenerate the constituency.

“I will be voting for the PNP and Dr Phillips because it is a lovely party that looks out for old people, and I love them,” Miss Cherry said as she sat outside her home.

The St Andrew Southern constituency in which Admiral Town is located is considered a PNP stronghold, and its candidates routinely trump the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) challengers at the polls.

Miss Cherry said that she feels comfortable voting for the PNP once again as they have done a lot for the poor, including the construction of houses and the provision of water to depressed communities like Admiral Town.

“When this election is over, know that the PNP will be declared the winner, and I am going to celebrate,” she said.

While their voting record is strictly ‘orange’, all of the elderly residents who spoke with The Gleaner expressed a desire to see great infrastructure development in their constituency to match what they said they are seeing in JLP-dominated areas.

Donald Whyte, who is also a lifelong PNP supporter, said he has stuck with the party because of what it stands for.

The 78-year-old said that social development, justice, and infrastructural development are hallmarks of the PNP that its former leader, Michael Manley, left Jamaica.

“I feel it is our duty to remind the country of that good work, that without social justice, no matter how much road dem build, nothing will get better for the people,” Whyte said.

It was the same tune with 73-year-old Sonia McDonald, who said she wants Golding to give attention to the unreliable state of the water service.

She said she is struggling to identify “a single project the JLP Government” has instituted to upgrade the water system in Admiral Town or any concrete plan to help create a better community.

Golding defeated the JLP’s Dane Dennis in a by-election in 2017 after veteran politician Omar Davies retired.

He is being challenged by the JLP’s Victor Hyde this time around.

paul.clarke@gleanerjm.com