Despite his party being faced with challenges in the Lluidas Vale Division in St Catherine, 36-year-old businessman Karl Grant is confident that he will win the area for the People’s National Party (PNP) in the Local Government Election on Monday, February 26.

“My level of confidence going into the election is 100-and-more-percent because my team that I have is the best,” he told The Beacon.

He was declared as the PNP candidate a few months before the election was announced. That’s because Moneque Brown, who previously was selected to become the party’s candidate, left the political scene to pursue other interests.

The process to replace her was controversial, but, in the end, Grant prevailed over other contenders to be named the candidate.

In addition to the fallout arising from the selection of Grant, the PNP machinery in Lluidas Vale was hit by the party’s sudden replacement of Hugh Graham as its General Election candidate in St Catherine North West where Lluidas Vale Division is located. Graham had served as councillor for that division, and he still wields an amount of influence there, considering that he is still the Member of Parliament.

Grant told The Beacon that he is pleased with the momentum his campaign has picked up. “The campaign is great; it’s going awesome,” he asserted.

When the last Local Government Election was held in 2012, Lluidas Vale Division was won by Graham of the PNP, but he left it to successfully contest the parliamentary election in 2020.

Since then, Lluidas Vale Division, which traditionally supports the PNP, has been without a councillor. It was left virtually neglected as residents grappled with issues such as frequent water lock-offs and poor road condition.

Not surprising, Grant is now announcing that those issues – water supply shortage and bad roads – are among the top three to be tackled if he is elected.

“The roads are in a deplorable condition; that is my first objective. And then [there is the need for] infrastructure for young people – sports and entertainment. And then the water system has to keep going in all of my division,” he said.

Grant, who was nominated at Charlemont High School on February 8, will square off with two other candidates in Monday’s election. They are Joel Williams of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Fitzroy ‘Chris’ Bennett who is an independent candidate.

This video feature is sponsored by the JLP.


Grant, the only contender who is not a Lluidas Vale Division native, thinks he is the best man to deliver progress in the area.

“I am a very productive young man who is always pushing, always in my job, always engaging with young people [and] always have activities going on for community,” he said.


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