JIS photo
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson autographs a photograph for Deandra Reynolds of Jamaica House Basic School during a courtesy call at the Prime Minister's Office earlier this year.
As Prime Minister P.J. Patterson prepares to walk away from active politics, more persons have rated his leadership of the nation as negative than those who consider his performance positive, says the latest Gleaner-commissioned Don Anderson poll.At the same time, Mr. Patterson's legacy appears to be primarily hinged, in the eyes of Jamaicans, on the construction of roads and, particularly, Highway 2000.
According to the survey, more than 38 per cent of persons interviewed believed the Prime Minister's performance has not adequately measured up, rating it either poor or very poor.
"Those particularly disenchan-ted with his performance were young persons 19-24, where over 44 per cent viewed it as negative," said pollster Don Anderson in his analysis.
The survey indicated that the parishes that were strongly of the view that the Prime Minister's performance was either poor or very poor were St. Catherine, St. Thomas and St. Ann.
Just under 26 per cent were of the view that Mr. Patterson, who has announced that he will demit office before next April, has done a good to excellent job.
These persons were primarily from the parishes of Portland, St. Mary, Hanover and St. James.
"The largest single response to this question came from those who felt that his performance was average, with just under 33 per cent rating it as such," the pollster said.
The survey was conducted by Anderson and his team from Market Research Services Ltd. and included interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 persons aged 18 years and older in all parishes. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 per cent.
More than 34 per cent of persons singled out road construction as Mr. Patterson's greatest contribution and achievement after more than a decade as Prime Minister. However, no other factor was mentioned to any extent as positive.
"Ten per cent said they could think of nothing, whilst 12 per cent simply did not know or were unable to say what his greatest achievement was as Prime Minister," Anderson said.
