Popcaan willing to talk with PM ... Artiste wants to develop St Thomas

Dancehall artiste Popcaan says he is serious about getting the powers that be to shed some light on his parish of St Thomas.

The entertainer, who met with the Member of Parliament for Eastern St Thomas, Dr Fenton Ferguson back in September, to discuss the state of the roads in that parish says he is now open to meeting with the mayor and even the Prime Minister to discuss developmental projects.

Speaking with THE STAR post performance on the Welcome to Jamrock cruise last week, the ‘Unruly Boss’ said although his schedule doesn’t permit regular meetings, he is open to having sit-downs with the authorities to discuss a ‘moving forward’ plan.

“Me in and out innu but me available,” he said. “Me wah meet wid anybody, the mayor, the MP, Andrew Holness, Babsy Grange, Lisa Hanna, whoever it takes to get things going. It nuh matter to me, whichever party wah make the moves me will work wid dem.”

MASSIVE ROAD PROTEST

St Thomas has been getting much media attention following a massive protest against bad roads earlier this month.

Residents blocked roads after a plea was made via social media for them to stand in support of better infrastructure in the parish.

The protest garnered national attention when the men believed to have been at the helm of the protest were detained by law enforcement officials and held for 'suspicion of criminal activity'. The men were later released without condition.

Commenting on those protests, Popcaan said while he is happy that more persons are coming out and standing up for their parish, he believes residents should find non-violent means of protesting as actions such as the blocking of roads can make things worse.

“Di block road and dem craziness deh, me nuh really approve a dem thing deh,” he said. “Me rather unu dweet as a peaceful thing, just march and talk fi weh unu want. Me nuh want it be no violence thing where nobody ago get hurt.”

Despite not agreeing with the method of the people, Popcaan told THE STAR that with some amount of attention now on the parish, perhaps the time for action, as it relates to development, is now.

He said he was pleased to see that the voices of the people in St Thomas are no longer being ignored and expressed joy at being a part of the initial efforts to get the parish some attention.

“St Thomas is my parish and a long time we a suffer from bad roads so mi decide fi step up and do something bout it,” he said. “Me do it from me heart and it make more people wah come out and do the same and dat make me feel good. Most people just need a voice weh can speak for them innu before dem can come out and speak for themselves.”