JAMAICA | Ruling JLP Ready for Local Government Elections says Party Leader

KINGSTON, Jamaica January 15, 2024 - Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Leader Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that the JLP’s political machinery is ready for local government elections.

Addressing a recent meeting of the Party’s Central Executive the JLP Party Leader  noted that roads have become a political flashpoint where some persons feel that in order to get their roads repaired, they must protest.

He advised that the new SPARK Program will provide a collaborative approach where the government, MPs, Councillors, and community members can work collaboratively to help ensure that the government's focus on road infrastructure is successful.

He revealed that at the next sitting of Parliament, the government will outline a consultative process where communities can contribute to the decision-making on which roads should be repaired in their communities but emphasized that priority ought to be given to those roads considered to be pain points in communities.

A statement from the meeting quoted the party leader as saying that “making Portmore a parish was never intended as an election gimmick or a strategy to win Portmore.” He said the country was “evolving economically, culturally, and socially, which required the government to make strategic changes to enhance the development of areas like Portmore, which requires changes in definition and management to further its development.”

In the statement, the JLP Leader claimed that his government would never seek to use the people of Portmore for narrow political objectives.

Holness said he was confident in the prospects of the Jamaica Labour Party for the upcoming elections, as the internal polling numbers showed the Jamaica Labour Party maintaining a strong lead in a majority of Parish Council seats.

He declared that “no other government has done as much for local government, and only a Jamaica Labour Party-led government has the vision and the expertise to continue the positive evolution of local government in Jamaica.”

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