December 23, 2024
Ocho Rios, St. Ann. Jamaica
COVER STORY FEATURE NEWS

KNOW YOUR ST ANN CANDIDATES

DALAS DICKENSON, JLP

 

ST ANN’S BAY DIVISION, St Ann Municipal Corporation

 

With more than 20 years of service as a Councillor, Dalas Dickenson knows his way around the St Ann Municipal Corporation (SAMC) and how to represent and get the best for the people in the St Ann’s Bay Division.

He says he is seeking re-election, for a fifth term, to continue doing things of “substance for the people”. Mr Dickenson has been a Councillor since 2003 and deputy Mayor since July 2020.

“I want to continue with the developments and there is much more to come,” he said.

Mr Dickenson expressed excitement about the road improvements to come under the Government’s SPARK programme. He says ten major roads in the Division will benefit.

Meantime, several roadways across the Division have been rehabilitated, with some work taking place as late as the start of February.

Norman Washington Drive, Seville has been recently rehabilitated and a major retaining wall reconstruction was underway, as of February 15. The road between the St Ann’s Bay cemetery and the Columbus Statue was also taking place on the same date, after years of representation. Mr Dickenson says he continues to lobby the NHT to undertake upgrading of roads in the Windsor Heights Scheme

Farm roads have benefitted too, including at Kimma and Farmer’s Heights, Seville where RADA has assisted.

That’s on top of the recent rehabilitation of roadways including, Harbour Street, in St Ann’s Bay, and Edge Hill.

Edge Hill has seen numerous projects to address long-standing needs. A major one is drainage rehabilitation and construction to mitigate flooding.

Improvements have been made also to the Edge Hill community water systems. Out of a 2023 Labour Day project, a 1,000-gallon tank has been erected. That was complemented by the distribution of several black tanks to residents, under an SAMC programme.

Mr Dickenson is particularly proud of the Legacy Programme that has seen $1.3 Million spent on the Jonas Rheiner Community Centre at Edge Hill. He says representation also paid off with residents benefitting from Government programmes, including free community WiFi installed at Windsor, St Ann’s Bay town and Edge Hill.

Mr Dickenson says benefits have also been extended to smaller settlements. He says his next term will see even stronger representation for the St Ann’s Bay Division.

ON ELECTION DAY, February 26

VOTE DALAS DICKENSON, VOTE JLP

 

NATHANIEL LAWRENCE, PNP

 

 

ST ANN’S BAY DIVISION, St Ann Municipal Corporation,

 

Nathaniel Lawrence has a vision for St Ann’s Bay, the parish capital, and the whole Division of the same name within which it falls.

It is to give the parish capital its rightful place as an administrative centre, a booming business hub and with a tourism element based on rich history.

The businessman says his passion for St Ann’s Bay is born out of his knowledge of it for nearly four decades since he settled there as a child, and from his travels. He has visited over 80 countries while he worked on cruise ships.

“Our streets in St Ann’s Bay were not dirty, no homeless people were roaming the streets, the gutters were not filled with potholes and stagnant, smelly water,”   he says, looking back 30 years at the main town in the Division.

Mr Lawrence, popularly called Mickey, says it’s not just the aesthetics of St Ann’s Bay he’s going to fix. However, that’s priority number one.  “It doesn’t have to be this way. We can be better than this we have to be better than this. St Ann’s Bay should not be in this predicament.”

Mr Lawrence says the state of the parish capital and the wider St Ann’s Bay Division is a manifestation of the lack of leadership and proper representation.

He says from what he has seen of the world, St Ann’s Bay should be an important tourism destination, given its history as the first Spanish settlement in Jamaica, the archaeological treasures, and the fact it is the birthplace of Marcus Garvey. He adds to that the firewater attraction at Windsor. He says he can get it done.

He said outside of the capital, the communities from farming districts like Kimma and Farmers Heights, as well as larger settlements such as Priory, Heartland, Top Road, and Windsor, all have the same problem — poor roads and non-existent or unreliable water systems.

He said he and the PNP organization in the Division have been working hard, away from the headlines and have created a groundswell.

He says the four-term Councillor, his opponent can’t respond. “He’s going about all at night in the bushes but it’s too late. I know I will beat him and be the new Councillor for St Ann’s Bay Division,” Lawrence said.

ON ELECTION DAY, February 26, 2024

VOTE NATHANIEL LAWRENCE, VOTE PNP