Election butterflies, victorious determination
... Alando reflects on East Central St Catherine journey
“T HE ELECTION is coming.” Those words were echoed constantly over the two years that I was caretaker for the constituency of East Central St Catherine. Like any new candidate, I was filled with mixed emotions about the road and the work that lie ahead. Sometimes overly anxious, at times confident, and at other times just simply unsure of what the future would hold. And then the words “the election is here” became a constant, and my team and I were in full battle mode ensuring we were prepared for victory. By 8:00 on the night of February 25, 2016, I felt a sense of happiness and relief. The election had come and gone and we had won. For the fist time in 36 years, a JLP candidate had now become the member of parliament for a seat in Portmore, St Catherine.
The real work began. It was time to fulfil campaign promises. Better roads, better infrastructure, working with students and the elderly. Transforming lives and communities. This was now the mission, and my team and I were ready to embrace it. As the newly elected member of parliament, my first public engagement was a community consultation held at the Cedar Grove Academy with all stakeholders. I told myself that as the elected official, it was my responsibility to listen to the voice of the people and give life to their hopes and dreams of more prosperous lives and communities.
Different communities had different needs and it required Solomonic wisdom to ensure that right decisions were made and that the needs of different communities were balanced fairly. I then met with the head of the Constituency Development Fund and senior parliamentarians to devise ingenious ways to disburse the $20 million that was allotted to the constituency for its development. My team and I later devised a budget that has guided our actions for the last year. For education, we allocated $6.5 million, for sports $2 million, for economic enablement and welfare $5 million, and so on.