Agricultural economist, Michael Church, who is expected to run in St. John on a National Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket at the next general election, says he does not see the contest as one that pits him against Fitzroy Bedeau, the former Commissioner of Police.
Bedeau, a rookie candidate, will be trying to retain the seat for the ruling New National Party (NNP) of Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell.
The seat is current held by the party's General Secretary Claris Charles, who is also Minister of Labour and Education."We are not coming up against Fitzroy,'' Church said Tuesday when asked in a radio interview about vying with Bedeau to capture the St. John constituency.
"We are coming up against an NNP regime. Fitzroy is my very good friend. Our intention and our plan are to get rid of the NNP. It's unfortunate that Fitzroy found himself in the wrong camp'', he said.
According to Church, he is confident in the ability of NDC to win the election whenever it is called by Dr. Mitchell who is trying to create history by winning a fourth consecutive term in office.
"I have no doubt,'' he said, "that we have the right outfit, we have the expertise and what it takes to take this country out of the problematic situation that it is in right now and put it on a path of development'', he remarked.
The parish of St. John, which has "one of the most active youth populations in the country,'' has been "almost totally neglected'' in terms of development, Church charged."Whereas some constituencies would boast of five and six community centres, we have none,'' Church complained.
"So we have to look at how we can bring those youth back on board", added Church who was unsuccessful in his bid in 2003 against Charles.
The NDC candidate-elect said the objective should be to provide youth with a genuine feeling of value and worth.
"And not only feel that they have worth and value but provide them with facilities to exploit that value that they have for the community's develop and, of course, for their own individual progress'', he added.
