#JaVotes2016: Late start, early party as Comrades meet in Old Harbour

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

With the Old Harbour, St Catherine leg of the People's National Party (PNP's) 'Stepping up the Progress' meeting failing to start on time, supporters turned the political event into a street dance.

The PNP had advertised that the meeting would have commenced at 6:00 pm but the meeting never got going until 8:00 p.m.

By that time, many Comrades were dripping with sweat from the hours of dancing to dancehall and party songs.

Even the 89-year-old O.D Ramtallie, a former parliamentarian and PNP stalwart, appeared to be bitten by the bug.

Fighting the wind, which threatened to take his orange flag from his frail hands, Ramtallie rocked to every beat of Neville 'Struggle' Martin's 'My Leader Born Yah'.

The PNP's stop in Old Harbour, four days before the 17th general election since Universal Adult Suffrage, is aimed at boosting its chances to unseat the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP's) Everald Warmington who has been MP since 2002.

Esworth Frankson, the councillor for the Old Harbour Central division in the St Catherine Parish Council,  has said it is time Warmington's reign comes to an end.

In 2014, Frankson switched allegiance from the JLP to the PNP.

"The Labour party panic," he said in reference to the huge crowd.

"I have never seen this in Old Harbour. In all my career this has never happened."

Norman Scott, who chaired the proceedings, said Frankson is helping to engineer the demise of Warmington.