STATE OF THE CONSTITUENCY DEBATE

On Tuesday 22 September I rose in Gordon House to report on the state of St Andrew North Western.I thanked God, my constituents, my family, my Constituency Executive and Councillors Vernon McLeod, Andrew Harris and Phylicia Henry Golding. I also recognised Dr Nigel Clarke, who served before me, and of course my father, Derrick Charles Smith OJ, who represented this seat for twenty nine years.

March marked fourteen years since I first became an elected representative. This constituency is now on its second generation of Smith family representation, and I take that trust seriously.

My work is for the people of this seat and must reflect what they actually live with. I still walk roads I knew as a boy, many of them transformed, and I keep meeting residents so that what I say in Parliament stays grounded.On development, forty residents of Jackson Town and Ackee Walk received land titles in June. A title is an asset a family can pass on or use to borrow. We will keep working until every eligible resident has one.

We have also opened talks on Francis Land, along Dorien Avenue between Maverley and Three Oaks Gardens, as a site for multi family housing under the New Social Housing programme.

Education remains a priority. This year’s Back to School programme put $13 million into grants and scholarships, including $100,000 awards for thirty tertiary students.

Our partners helped us do more for young people. The first St Andrew North Western Chess Invitational drew more than two hundred students from across Jamaica, and it will be an annual event. The Ash Wednesday Netball Rally at Sherlock Crescent continues, and in 2027 we will add a free youth summer swim camp.

Roads are still the issue I hear most. SPARK works are complete on Greendale Crescent, Addington Drive and West Kirkland Heights. Monterey Avenue, Lockhart Avenue and Topaz Avenue are under construction. Planning is underway for Vilma Avenue, Elma Crescent, Patosi Avenue and Lower Tunbridge. A SPARK road lasts longer than a patch, but residents on Lockhart, Monterey and Topaz have lived with disruption for nearly ten months. I understand the shortage of skilled labour. I still share their frustration.

We installed forty community and street signs last year and aim for fifty more by the end of 2026. I am looking at turning the verge of Perkins Boulevard into a walking trail. Zinc fence replacement is complete in Greendale and moving into Mosquito Valley.

On water, the more than $1 billion Ferry to Rock Pond pipeline, which broke ground in May 2025, is nearing completion and will serve more than 26,000 residents in Red Hills and nearby communities. We have also been distributing water tanks across the constituency.

I closed on the Constituency Development Fund. It is the one reliable tool an MP has for everyday need. It fell from $40 million in 2008 to $20 million in 2009, and that $20 million has lost about 65 percent of its purchasing power. Restoring the original intent would take about $126 million today. While this is not feasible, I support a fairer allocation, but first we need a proper study of the current framework so any increase is based on evidence, not guesswork.

I do not attend sittings in the House to make noise. I choose to prepare, show up and be useful to the people of St Andrew North Western. That is the promise I made fourteen years ago, and it is the promise I intend to keep.