Four to duke it out in Ch Ch West Central
With three newcomers and the incumbent, Christ Church West Central will be an interesting constituency to watch come May 24.
The battle lines have been drawn between the Democratic Labour Party candidate Stephen Lashley, Adrian ‘Medic’ Forde of the Barbados Labour Party, Ria Riley of the United Progressive Party and Kenneth Lewis of Solutions Barbados.
Arriving quietly just after 10 a.m. at the Deighton Griffith Secondary School, Lewis, with his nomination team, signed off on the papers presented to him by Returning Officer Walter Jones and Clerical Officer Mario Riley, before telling the media that the high cost of living was one of the many concerns expressed by the constituents that he would be seeking to address if elected.
Saying he had been well-received by those looking for a change, the small-business owner stressed “The Lord will direct the path in helping all of us.”
The arrival of Forde was marked by a party atmosphere at the school gates as approximately 40 supporters clad in red shirts waved placards to the chant ‘Vote, Vote, Vote, cause we with Forde’.
Dressed in a dark blue velvet suit, the pharmacist by profession made his way into the school’s hall, supported by his proposer Elaine Joseph, seconder Matthew Gittens, and witnesses Enita Morrison and Ryan Walcott at 11:37 a.m.
Insisting that the island’s future was at risk, Forde claimed that the rate of unemployment in the constituency was at more than 20 percent and said that a plan had been created to push entrepreneurship to drive this figure down.
“There must be a rescue effort in this country, there must be a restoration of faith and hope and there must be a restoration process,” he detailed.
A slight hiccup delayed what should have been smooth sailing for Lashley, the representative for the area since 2008, as after entering the nomination centre almost half hour after his scheduled 12:30 p.m. time, he could not locate his receipt, -vital to complete the process and had to leave to retrieve it.
His group therefore gave way to Riley, who completed her business quickly. Flanked by proposer Harold Ashby, seconder Jocelyn Grandison and witnesses Darren Parris and Jahver Morrison, she told the media that unemployment was a major concern as well as a lack of facilities for community activities.
Admitting to first-time jitters, she nevertheless said, “I know at the end of the day, I have a job to do and I have a team backing me 100 percent, so I am very confident in my duties.”
Returning just before 2 p.m. with the important document in hand, Lashley expressed confidence that he would retain that seat, while pointing to the work done during his tenure. “In our canvass so far we have gotten tremendous support. We have started a very developmental program over the last ten years and the constituents recognise that and I believe that they would be returning that confidence by selecting me on the 24th,” he detailed. (JMB)