WESTERN BUREAU:
HE WAS away from the island when Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announced the date of the Local Government elections. He was still miles away from Jamaica on nomination day, but he was nominated. The man missed out on his own Parish Council election campaign, but he walked away the victor on election day.
That's the case of Bertel Moore, People's National Party (PNP) councillor-elect for the Negril division in Westmoreland. How could Bertel Moore defy the odds and be the victor in that division when he was off the island for six weeks reportedly due to illness, during the build-up to the parish council elections?
He attributes the success to the excellent mobilisation machinery of the party in his division. "The people of my division love me and my well oiled machinery knew how to get the optimal support from my division," Mr. Moore asserted in an interview with The Gleaner. "Unfortunately I wasn't here for the last six weeks, but I have to say my (party) workers did a very good job while I was away."
Wykeham McNeill, Member of Parliament for Western Westmoreland, agrees. "The party's dominance in western Westmoreland must be accredited to its wonderful networking system and micro-management," said Dr. McNeill. This time around however, while the machinery seemed to be at its strongest in Negril, it suffered some blows, in two of the five divisions in western Westmoreland, where the JLP wrested the divisions from the PNP.
Nonetheless, Mr. Moore said he was confident that the opposition could not have dampened his chances of taking home the bacon in Negril. "In my estimation, I think I have served the people of western Westmoreland well in my two previous terms as Parish Councillor. So I was expecting a win," Bertel Moore told The Gleaner on election night at the counting centre, after he learnt of his victory.
Meanwhile, the councillor-elect says he will be giving priority attention to implementing road projects in his division this time around. "The No. 4 St. Paul's Parish Council Road, which is about five miles will be my main priority... Woodland Road and Wirelane will also be among my first priority in terms of repairs."
Bertel Moore copped 896 votes to the JLP's Owen James 587 votes during the Parish Council elections last Thursday.
- Erica James-King
