Davis promises water revolution in St James South

With the next general election pending, the Government is pulling out all the stops to retain the constituency of St James Southern, which is held by Homer Davis.

The incumbent, who also serves as minister of state in the Office of the Prime Minister, said more than $1.25 billion will be spent on water infrastructure across the constituency over the next few years.

"At the end of that, I assure you that 70 per cent of this constituency will have access to potable water," said Davis, who represents the Jamaica Labour Party.

He made the remarks while addressing residents at the recent commissioning of a $23-million solar-powered water supply system in Lapland, Catadupa. The new facility has a 20,000-gallon storage capacity and will serve over 1,000 residents in the area.

St James Southern, which consists of areas such as Anchovy, Catadupa and Maroon Town, is considered a key battleground heading into the elections. Davis won the seat by 1,950 votes in 2020. His victory ended the People's National Party's (PNP) 31-year reign in the constituency, which was represented by Derrick Kellier between 1989 to 2020. The PNP's new standard-bearer is Nekeisha Burchell.

Davis has declared that his efforts are focused on tackling long-standing water access issues in the rural constituency, which he says is 52 per cent of the parish.

"St James South is not an area that we are short of water. We are not short of water... . What we were short of is visionary leadership. Somebody to pound the beat, somebody to knock on the door, somebody to make the representation on behalf of the people," he said.

"We've had systems here that have fallen into disrepair... [requiring] quite a substantial sum to have them [brought] up to date."