With just nine days to go before the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) election, the Express today looks at the area of Lambeau/Signal Hill.

There are 4,116 voters registered to vote in this electoral district, according to the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) supplemental voters list.

The Express spoke to the three candidates from the People's National Movement (PNM), the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) and The Platform of Truth (TPT) who will be competing to win the favour of the people.

The Lambeau/Signal Hill seat was represented for the past four years by PNM member Oswald Williams, who served as the THA secretary for tourism and transportation, but will not be going up for re-election.

A total of 36 candidates from the three parties will be contesting 12 electoral districts in the THA election on January 21.

PNM candidate:

Jomo Pitt, 44,

WASA project officer

Why should you be elected?

I should be elected because I am a very simple and humble man and I have a vision for the future.

I will continue the current works under the PNM in terms of road improvement, paving, dealing with drainage and flooding issues.

I will work to ensure there is a more collaborative effort between the people by working with the village council and the NGOs so there is a more united effort to get the people together.

I have always been at work in the community, not because of political aspirations but because of service to the people who have helped me get where I am today.

I'm hoping that the people who know me and see me know that I can't do it alone. A collaborative effort is needed and people recognise that I am a man of integrity who is committed and devoted to the people.

One of my passions is sport and, if successful in the election, if the Chief Secretary supports that I am worthy to work in the sport division, I would like to see resources placed in sporting disciplines, be it football or track and field. This would help us to make a mark regionally by competing in competitions like 20/20 cricket, Carifta Games.

I think we have great talent to play against the region and this can be used as a vehicle to provide incentives to the youth and give them an alternative to being on the block and in that drug environment that seems to be taking over the island.

TOP candidate:

Chester Robinson Alleyne, 43,

pastor and former teacher

Why should you be elected?

I grew up in the area and the infrastructure is as old as I am. We have a lot of drainage problems, our roads are dilapidated and especially our coastline, which is so beautiful, has never been upgraded but used as a dumping ground for the past 20 years.

We are the only village on the island that has five bridges, five eco-systems that have been dumped on for decades.

There is a beautiful stretch of beach, a mile and a half, that has never been tapped into for its tourism potential. There can be wind surfing, para-sailing, but this was never developed, there are no facilities in that location. The Pititude beach is also an ideal location for stroke therapy, as it has minerals in its shallow warm waters.

The area also has an industrial village with over eight garages run by young men, and no one has seen it fit to regularise this industry and move it beyond the grease and dirt floors. There is a threat to our eco-systems if these garages are not tweaked.

We also have some of the oldest schools—Dorothy Moses Pre-school, Lambeau Anglican Diocese School—which need upgrades.

Signal Hill Secondary, Scarborough Secondary and Bishop's High School, which are all close by, all need attention. We are about to lose Scarborough Secondary because of erosion, we are losing two inches off the coastline each year.

My passion and desire is to transform this village into a tourist attraction. We have over 40 bikers who come through the area from the cruise ships and because they encounter five bridges on the trail it takes away from the adventure.

I see the development of a wonderful tourist attraction... when the cruise ships dock, the people head straight to this area.

We also have to invest in the young people, as they are the future. I gave up teaching, I taught at Scarborough Secondary for six years and worked with the young people, the young men, in preparing them for the 21st century, to have a vision for the future.

We have a serious problem with the treatment of the elderly. The geriatric ward is now housed at the basement of someone's home—which is located not too far from the Chief Secretary's former home in Signal Hill.

The conditions; you would never begin to understand what the elderly are going through. I visited them and carried toiletries and prayed with them. They need to be moved immediately.

TPT candidate:

David Fraser, 31, checker

Why should you be elected?

For the past couple of years, I have been noticing that Signal Hill and Lambeau have not been upgraded in terms of its infrastructure and educational development.

I got fed up of hearing the incumbent THA promising we will do this and we will do that, and nothing has been done and I just thought that it was time somebody stood up for what is right, to stand up for the villages and the people and for Tobago.

If I am elected as representative for Signal Hill/Lambeau, there is a lot of work to be done. Schools and educational facilities need upgrades, we also have a lot of youths in the village who are not academically inclined, but they have a trade and skills but no one to push and guide them in the proper direction.

Sport is another major area that needs attention in the village of Lambeau, in Tobago generally.

I am a member of the Signal Hill Sports Club and I also play football, and I recognise that there is great talent in Tobago.

In Lambeau, the fishermen also need a fishing facility where they can sell their catch, the roads need upgrading, the whole of Lambeau requires a face-lift, and I believe this can be done with the Platform of Truth.

I have been hearing Mr (Hochoy) Charles for a very long time. Mr Charles is a visionary, in my perspective, he is a man of integrity, a man who is honest to the Tobago people. Mr Charles loves his island and has a vision for Tobago.

The other two political parties have been keeping Tobagonians down for a very long time, especially the People's National Movement. The Platform of Truth can liberate the young people and Tobago as a whole and I feel under the TPT and Mr Charles's leadership we can do that.