St James South opponents both confident

Two candidates vying to represent the St James South constituency are brimming with confidence about their chances of occupying a seat in Parliament after January 19.

Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate Sandra Husbands, who held the seat up until the December 27 dissolution of Parliament, arrived at the West Terrace Primary School, with a throng of supporters, to be nominated on Monday.

She touted her community gardening initiatives as a major boost for improving food security and the fight against the scourge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in her constituency. However, if re-elected, she hopes to turn her attention to bridging the digital divide between the young and old.

The incumbent parliamentary representative said she made it her business to cover nearly the entire constituency, despite the fact that most residents are part of a busy middle-class.

“I think the most important thing is to be able to connect with your constituents and to be able to share with them and make sure they know the things that you have done throughout the time that you have served them. But, more importantly, it is what else we are going to do together,” said Husbands.

“One of the things that I have emphasised with my constituents is that this is a partnership. We cannot achieve what we want to achieve as a constituency, as a country, unless we are working together as MP and constituents and each of us has our roles to play and as long as we are able to do that, we will be able to produce results,” the BLP candidate added.

Her Democratic Labour Party (DLP) opponent Dr Ronnie Yearwood, who was accompanied by his wife, Lucy Weidner, their 11-month-old son and a handful of supporters, said he would be dedicating most of his energies to door-to-door canvassing and meeting as many people as possible.

The University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill campus lecturer described the response thus far as “positive”, “warm” and encouraging from constituents, many of whom claimed Husbands has been absent.

“They’re not seeing their representative, she’s not engaging with them and … as I said at the start of this campaign, I do not see or can imagine how those things which are the most basic of things that a government and a representative should provide are still causing issues in 2022. It is sad that we have to address these,” Dr Yearwood told reporters.

“I think part of our aim is to ensure that we address the issues and concerns of residents and we’re able to do the job and we’re able to say ‘if this is a concern and this is something we can fix, we will fix it’.

“We are not making huge outlandish promises but we are trying to do the things that will improve and make their lives better,” he added. (KS)