CAMPAIGNING FOR the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party, Pearnel Charles, Member of Parliament (MP) for North Central Clarendon, told hundreds of jubilant supporters in Wood Hall, Clarendon on Sunday that, if elected leader of the party, he was prepared to use legislation to guarantee full rights to Jamaican women.
Mr. Charles, a vice-president of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, said that qualified women must have access to all jobs and positions and with similar pay given to men. At present, he said, men dominate many high paying jobs and positions in the country and when a few women get top jobs, it is considered as luck or something equally unflattering.
FRESH WIND OF HOPE
He promised to bring a fresh wind of hope, liberty and prosperity to Jamaica where, in his view, illiteracy and poverty have shackled, burdened and retarded many of our people. Illiteracy and poverty are social time bombs waiting to explode he said, adding that poverty cannot be alleviated if the nation is uneducated.
Mr. Charles repeated his campaign mantra to supporters in Clarendon:
"I will build a bridge for you to cross over from illiteracy and poverty to a life of freedom in the promised land of social justice."
Mr. Charles said that for Jamaica to attain its full potential, and its rightful place in the community of nations, it has to emerge as a just nation that is secure and prosperous. To succeed in this regard, he said we must have the assurance of equal opportunity to all individuals and groups and a free participation in the economy, in politics and in governance.
"We must establish a regime of social justice for all," he said.
