Where’s the work, Dayton?

KRYSTAL LEE, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caretaker for St Ann North West, has given low performance ratings for Member of Parliament Dayton Campbell, questioning his achievements during his nine-year tenure.

Campbell told The Gleaner last week that one of his biggest achievements as member of parliament was his programme of skills training, which he claimed has certified 3,614 people.

The People’s National Party standard-bearer has credited the training programme for producing drivers who have been able to pull down salaries of up to CDN$100,000 per year.

But Lee questioned the credibility of Campbell’s jobs data.

“When it comes on to a lot of skills training, where you can actually go into the communities and have these centres using whether school or churches ... when I actually go around, there are actually none.

“It is the most asked questioned by young people: ‘What can we do for the young people?’ I don’t know what training he has done, but it certainly has not it the ground,” Lee countered.

She pointed to the Salem community in the constituency as one area where, she claimed, young people had not been the recipIents of training initiatives.

“What I am used to in Western St Mary, for example, is taking the programmes into the communities because HEART offers that. None of that is happening,” Lee, who is still the sitting councillor in the Retreat division in that constituency, said.

Lee said her focus was on rural infrastructural development, including roads and water systems, job creation, education, and skills training.

The JLP standard-bearer insists that Campbell should have a thicker resume of accomplishments for his legacy.

“Whether PNP, JLP, or no P – whichever side of the political fence, bottom line is communities are being neglected. Things are not being done,” she stressed.

‘It is the most asked questioned by young people: ‘What can we do for the young people?’ I don’t know what training he has done, but it certainly has not it the ground.’