PNP wants all three Westmoreland seats, says Hayles

By: Albert Ferguson

Image caption: Ian Hayles

People’s National Party (PNP) Vice-President Ian Hayles, who will be contesting the Westmoreland Western seat, says it is critical for the the party to reclaim all three seats in the parish for Mark Golding, the party’s president, to become the next prime minister of Jamaica.

Hayles, who was speaking at the PNP’s Westmoreland parish meeting in Independence Park in Savanna-la-Mar on Saturday, urged party supporters to rally behind the party’s candidates so that they can reclaim the seats the party lost in the 2020 general election.

“In the last election, we lost all three seats in Westmoreland, but we are saying to you tonight: no more surprises. It is time to deliver Westmoreland back to the People’s National Party,” said Hayles.

The governing Jamaica Labour Party shook the foundation of the PNP in the September 3, 2020 general election, sweeping the parish, which was long considered ‘’safe PNP territiory’, as it captured 49 seats nationally to form the Government in the 63-member Parliament.

In the upcoming elections, the JLP’s George Wright will be in a rematch with the PNP’s Dwayne Vaz, who he defeated handily in Westmoreland Central. In Westmoreland Western, where the JLP’s Morland Wilson upstaged the PNP’s Dr Wykeham McNeill in 2020, Dr Garfield James, the JLP’s new standard-bearer, will face-off with the PNP’s Hayles. In the meantime, in Westmoreland Eastern, Daniel Lawrence, who defeated Luther Buchanan in the 2020 election, will face a new challenge in PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell.

In his plea to voters in Westmoreland, Hayles said Mark Golding is the right man to lead Jamaica, and that he needs the support of Westmoreland to get that opportunity. 

“Mark Golding said to you, ‘Give me Eastern Westmoreland, give me Central Westmoreland, and give me Western Westmoreland’, and he will deliver for the people of this parish. And I say to you tonight, let us deliver them all to him,” said Hayles.

Framing the mission as a spiritual and patriotic call, Hayles told the gathering that “forgiveness is important”.

He added: “We serve an awesome God. We are a family, and Westmoreland, you are attached to the People’s National Party family.”

With mounting frustrations over roads, water, healthcare, and the cost of living, Hayles, who did not travel with his usual grocery basket to the political platform, was quite forceful in making the case that the PNP offers the best hope for change in Jamaica.

“The cost of living is too high. Our roads are the worst in the country. People are carrying water on their heads like it’s the 1960s,” he said. “It is time to stop buying water from trucks. We have water here for the people of Jamaica.”

Hayles also pledged to restore basic services in neglected areas, including re-establishing a post office in Negril and improving lighting and road infrastructure.

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