Orange and green cloth sales flat
Some fabric stores are reporting that that there has been no significant increase in the sale of orange or green cloth, despite the heightened political activities on the island.
For years, political parties, candidates, and supporters have customarily adorned light poles, trees, and buildings with strips of orange or green cloth or banners to showcase their political allegiance and influence.
Orange is the colour used by the socialist People’s National Party (PNP) while green is used by the conservative Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Despite the obvious display of party colours across the island, some merchants report that there has been no significant surge in the sales of orange or green materials.
“I haven’t really felt the impact of the political atmosphere as yet, there are still a few days to go, so
let’s see,” said Burton Myrie, store manager at Pings.
“Our colours in terms of green and orange have not seen a bump
at all. What has been doing well for us over the past couple of weeks is the Jamaican colours,” he added.
Myrie attributed the demand for
Jamaican colours to events such as Black History Month and Reggae Month.
Similarly, Andy Karim, general manager at Pennys for Fabrics, said the demand for green and orange cloth has been flat.
“Nothing major has happened for those colours, [but] we didn’t have much of those colour fabrics in stock in the beginning,” Karim said.
A total of 499 candidates were nominated on February 8 for Monday’s elections.
During the last local government elections held on November 29, 2016, the JLP won eight of the 13 municipal authorities (Kingston, St Andrew, Portland, St Mary, St Ann, Trelawny, St James, St Elizabeth and Clarendon) while the PNP won four (St Catherine, Westmoreland, Hanover and Manchester). There was a tie for the St Thomas Municipal Corporation.
Of the 228 divisions, the JLP won 130 electoral divisions, while the PNP won 98 seats.