George Henry, Gleaner Writer
Azan: Some constituents are of the view that he could have done much better.
RICHARD AZAN is the parliamentary representative for Clarendon North West.
It is now two and a half years since he has been at the helm in the constituency and persons have sought to bring his stewardship under review.
Checks with a number of his constituents recently to get a feedback on the spending of the Social and Economic Support Programme (SESP) in the constituency brought mixed reactions.
While some persons have expressed satisfaction with the performance of Mr. Azan, others were of the view that he could have done much better in alleviating some of the difficulties being experienced in North West Clarendon.
Bad roads, water shortage and job creation were among some of the things mentioned by a number of the persons with whom The Gleaner spoke. And some persons were of the view that the MP could have and still can do more through his SESP allocation.
According to George Lloyd Smikle of Baillieston, he had not seen any evidence of SESP funds spent in most sections of the constituency and would like the Government to intervene. He pointed out that there was some amount of partiality with the spending of SESP funds in North West Clarendon and that it was being spent only in selected areas of the constituency.
ROADS IN NEED OF REPAIR
He stated that some roads in North West Clarendon are in serious need of repair and the MP is aware of them, "But appears as if he either doesn't care or he does not have the necessary funds to have them repaired."
Mr. Smikle named a section of the Santa Hill to Nine Miles road, Alston to Morgans and the Thompson Town main road as examples of roads in the constituency which need to be attended to.
Smikle's views were shared by Hugh McLeo from the Balcaress community in the constituency.
According to McLeod, there are several roads in the constituency that are so bad that farmers are having difficulties transporting their produce to the market.
Mr. McLeod said there are a number of areas in the constituency that were battered by last year's Hurricane Ivan which, up to now, have not benefited from any form of assistance through the SESP funds nor from any such fund.
"When you look at roads which were damaged during Ivan at Lesterfield and Coffee Piece, one has to wonder if the MP has any SESP funds, because nothing has been done to address the poor road condition in those areas," said Mr. McLeod.
He also said farmers were severely affected by a long period of drought a few weeks ago, resulting in thousands of dollars in losses. However, according to him, most of the farmers have not received any form of assistance to get back on their feet.
But Leonard Cohen of Sanguinetti has contradicted what both Smikle and McLeod told The Gleaner, saying that he had seen four MPs in North West Clarendon and of the four, Mr. Azan is the best.
Mr. Cohen said he had seen significant improvements in the constituency and that the MP had been working hard through his SESP funds to ensure that his constituents were better off.
REQUESTS NOT IGNORED
"When you look at roads, assistance given to the unfortunate among us, building of houses for the needy, providing books and uniform for children going to school and so on, you can tell how much he has been able to do through his SESP funds," said Cohen.
He noted that Mr. Azan has helped several persons with financing even the funerals of their loved ones and that proposals put forward by residents towards improving their lives have never been ignored, including requests to have computers available to students and teachers for their computer education.
Cohen who is a farmer said the young MP has assisted several schools in the constituency in the setting up of their "feeding programme" and of such many students from very poor homes have been able to improve on not only their ability to learn but also on their level of attendance in classes.
Mr. Cohen's sentiments about the MP and his SESP funds were shared by several other constituents who also added that Mr. Azan is truthful and that if he did not have funds to carry out programmes proposed by constituents, he is quick to tell them so.
