Jamaica; Election Watch: Poll Showing Swing to JLP in Traditional PNP Northern Clarendon

 

A  Blue Dot poll is showing a trend towards the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in traditional People’s National Party (PNP) dominated Northern Clarendon where incumbent Horace Dalley is the sitting MP. 

Of the 405 residents who participated in the sample in the three divisions of Anon Town, Crofts Hill and Kellits, 35 per cent are positive about the JLP and 14 per cent are very positive, while 24 per cent are positive about the PNP, with a mere five per cent being very positive. The poll has a plus or minus probability of five per cent.

Meanwhile, a whoping 50 per cent of respondents have no opinion about the PNP, as against some 39 per cent with no opinion about the JLP.

The poll comes as Dwight Sibblies, an energetic and dynamic young lawyer and chartered accountant, seen as easy to talk to and one who knows first hand what it means to “travel the road from poverty to prosperity”, challenges heavyweight Horace Dalley, who won the seat in consecutive elections from 1989 until 2007 when he was upset by the JLPs Laurie Broderick by 227 votes. 

Dalley then returned to beat Broderick by 1,705 votes in 2011 and retained the seat in the 2016 General elections by 739 votes.

Sibblies is seen as very committed to the constituency and is confident that he has a deep knowledge of how to improve the lives of the residents. 

“My knowledge of Northern Clarendon is grounded in my walking the hills and valleys, every nook and cranny of the constituency for the past two years, going from house-to-house and listening to the concerns of the residents and observing the conditions on the ground,” Sibblies says.

With a myriad of long-standing problems such as poor roads, a perennial lack of water, limited electricity, poor internet coverage and inadequately resourced schools, Sibblies is vowing to address these critical gaps, as well as improve earnings for constituents by the novel introduction of heritage tourism with its potential to earn foreign exchange, or as he puts it “bringing the US dollar to the constituency for the residents to earn from tourists, instead of residents having to leave the constituency to earn foreign currency,” he states.

Sibblies also intends, if elected, to better conditions for the many farmers in the primarily rural constituency, by improving access to modern farming technology, land, and inputs such as market intelligence, “so that farmers can find markets for their crops year round, as well as providing infrastructure such as farm roads and water supplies”, he states.

“Clarendon Northern needs a new vision, this area has been severely neglected by the PNP despite it being so loyal,” Sibblies notes.