PNP announces new Portland West standard-bearer

Buff Bay, West Portland:

People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding has presented Doreen Forbes Campbell as the party’s prospective candidate for Portland Western in the next general election.

Forbes Campbell will be seeking to end the dominance of Daryl Vaz, the sitting Member of Parliament (MP).

In making the announcement, Golding also urged supporters of the PNP to turn out in numbers to support the new candidate. Golding told party the faithful on Sunday night that she “has been there and done that”, at the constituency conference at Buff Bay Primary School.

Forbes Campbell is a former councillor of the Balcarres division in Portland Western, who won on a PNP ticket in the 2003 local government elections. However, she later resigned and migrated overseas.

Her return has since reportedly re-energised some party supporters, who had seemingly lost hope following four straight parliamentary election losses to Vaz of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.

Defeated candidates

Among the candidates that have lost to the incumbent were attorney Abe Dabdoub in 2007, Rohan Quest in 2011, Vernon Hemmings in 2016, and Valerie Neita Robertson, KC, in 2020.

“I waan formally introduce to you the next PNP candidate for West Portland in the next general election,” commented Golding.

“A waan this lady to walk beside me when we going up Duke Street. So a waan unnu work wid me. I want to say how pleased I am that it is under my watch that Comrade Doreen Campbell come back to her original home as a politician, in Western Portland to represent the people in the right way. You’ve heard her plans and you’ve heard her passion. And you can feel her commitment and I know that the energy that she is pushing out will bring the people with her.”

Golding continued: “The people are crying out for good representation. They are crying out for honest, decent, hardworking representation for West Portland. She is not Mrs Portland. She is Doreen Campbell, candidate for the People’s National Party in the great constituency of Western Portland. So Comrades, workers, and foot soldiers of the People’s National Party, we have work to do. It is going to be a challenging journey. It is not going to be easy, but at least you have a candidate who knows the highways and byways,” he added.

Earlier, Forbes Campbell pointed out that she had a dream of purchasing heavy-duty equipment to ensure that every farm road in West Portland remains open and is accessible to farmers to carry their produce to market.

She also chided MP Vaz for what she described as the prolonged shutdown of the Buff Bay Market, which according to her, resulted in vendors plying their trade along the streets of Buff Bay.