‘PORTLAND CALLED ME’

A growing exclusion from activities of economic empowerment, the denial of beach access, and land grabbing by the wealthy in Portland are among key issues of concerns raised by electors in the evergreen constituency of Portland Eastern, and the new member of parliament-elect said he will go the highest appellate court to restore justice on behalf of constituents.

Isat Buchanan was genuinely surprised when told that a firestorm had erupted in the digital space over his defeat of Ann-Marie Vaz in last Wednesday’s general election.

He said the constituency was quiet.

“Let me explain something to you. God and time is a formula to life. Life equals time plus chance created. And once you know yourself, once you tap into God and you appreciate that, listen, black people – and I speak of it all the time, we, especially in Jamaica – we have survived the Middle Passage. We are children of slaves. Well, someone’s going to say, not me, and fine for you, but that experience is never lost…” he told The Sunday Gleaner, explaining that he is more than his antecedents, and that the universe had dispensed restorative justice.

The deeply spiritual Buchanan said finding healing through religion was his happy place.

Buchanan is the son of one of the grandfathers of Jamaica’s dancehall culture, Manley ‘Big Youth’ Buchanan. He has risen from ashes of drug possession, conviction, incarceration and deportation to Jamaica, to study law, graduating with honours, faced rejection from elements of the legal fraternity to being called to the Bar, appearing before the Privy Council representing still, one of dancehall’s biggest names Vybz Kartel, said the journey to representing the constituency was easy to what he has had to endure.

In fact, surviving in his household of siblings, prepared him for the fight he would encounter, and political success has come as no surprise. His mother, Reverend Joan Porteous, would wake him in the mornings and have him read Psalms and sing Sweet Hour of Prayer.

“It become a part of your life and channelling God is something that makes me confident in myself. I’m unbreakable. I’m a Maroon. I know myself. I’m a strong, intelligent, powerful black man. How can anybody think any less of me and expect any less?”

‘BUCKET LIFE IS NO MORE’

Buchanan won in the constituency dominated by the People’s National Party (PNP) for decades, between 1967 to 1980. The JLP won in the massive swing in 1980 and retained by virtue of the non-contest of the PNP in 1983. Between 1989 and 2016, it would be held by the PNP until the last PNP MP, Dr Lynvale Bloomfield, was murdered in February 2019 while in office. Vaz, the wife of Portland Western MP Daryl, won a by-election that year and retained the seat in the 2020 election.

Buchanan plotted the road to victory.

“I walked through every division. I went house to house. I was in the market. I was at the nine nights. I was at the funerals. I was at the graduations. I was in the spaces. At the beach, everywhere. In Moore Town, every single place, in the valley. Manchioneal, Hector’s River, Fairy Hill, Prospect, Port Antonio, you name it. Snow Hill, Norwich. The point I’m making, I met the people. I did the canvass myself,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

“You have to listen to the people. You have to have humility, and understand your role, and that’s certainly what I did. And my pitch to them is for their children. I want their children to become the best versions of themselves,” he said.

For Buchanan, who also lives in the constituency, living and sharing their experience gave him local identity. He, like other constituents, wants water in his pipes.

“I live down there. The first thing I want is water in my pipe. The bucket life is no more. We’re ending the days where you have to buy water from the MP. That’s no more. I’m there now. I’m living everything that they’re living, but the people know what they want … ,” argued Buchanan.

He believes the posture adopted by politicians over the years has produced a master-slave image. He vowed to remain humble.

“I am the servant of the people,” he said, as a lawyer and now an elected representative.

He believes that among the reasons for the voter apathy is that elected representatives see themselves as masters and their constituents as servants, and it was largely to be blamed for the disconnect between themselves and the electorate.

“You can’t fake honesty. You can’t fake human dignity. You can’t fake accountability. You can’t fake integrity. What is lost among the voters and the politicians is the fact that when you’re hungry, when you’re poor, when you’re struggling to structure your life and survive day to day, who cares about what’s happening with the political space? That’s for them to think. I just try to live. I just want to get my food. I just don’t want my babymother asking me how school is going to be, because the voucher from the politicians can’t buy one book.” he suggested.

Portland nightlife, focus on education

Coming from a family of musicians, the new MP sees entertainment playing a role in the development of Portland Easter, which relies heavily on tourism and which is home to some of Jamaica’s well-heeled. He said there was no reason why entertainment zones could not be structured to get the experiences of other countries.

The Noise Abatement Act, he said, curtails freedom of expression and culture. It is something he will be addressing, as well as placing focus on education.

“So I’m continuing to focus on education. Portland voted and made it abundantly clear education matters, and the road to escape poverty is education. Entertainment falls in that, and I’m launching the DEEP programme. That’s the Digital Economy Education Programme, and it’s in line with what you’re talking about, about what happens in the social media space and how to capitalise on it,” he said.

He again reiterated unawareness to what is happening in the social media space.

“Not one person on the Internet can say I don’t have capacity. Not one person on the internet can say I’m not bright. Not one person on the internet can say I am not a brilliant politician. I don’t absorb negativity and I say what things are and they happen as I say it,” he said.

The road-map to achieving that is education.

“It’s ironic how they speak of my past. But I say to the mothers and the fathers of children who have met with crime, or brushes with the law, that we’re not dead. It is my family who ensured that I could pick up the pieces of my life after conviction and deportation. And I’m trying to prevent young people from having to experience the vitriol that was spewed at me for trying to be the best version of myself, notwithstanding my mistakes. And it resonated with them because I can tell you, I want the sons and daughters of Portland to be doctors and lawyers, not call centre workers and cashiers,” he stated.

ACCESS DENIED

Access to the Blue Lagoon has been blocked and men who previously made a living there no longer have access. That matter is in court and is only one of other issues regarding land occupancy in the parish. According to him, the parish, nor the constituency did not belong to a few, but it was for everyone.

“All across Jamaica, beach access rights is a serious issue. After being announced the candidate, there have been no trespassing signs and no renewal of leases from persons on land that have been on the land for years with options to purchase the land. When the lands came up for sale they just said, stop paying the lease,” Buchanan told The Sunday Gleaner.

He is currently representing many constituents in land matters across the country.

“I’m taking this opportunity to speak about adverse possession. And I think perhaps the messaging was lost. It’s not squatting. White people adverse possess, but black people are squatters. Rubbish! And I will say to the Jamaican people you have a right to own a piece of this rock as a son and daughter of Jamaica. That is what I am advocating for. And as a member of parliament, I am going to actively ensure, and using my power as an attorney to ensure that if a man is on the land he must get title to the land,” he vowed.

Buchanan praised his Maroon lineage for standing with him. On nomination day, he said, they showed up for him. Accompong Maroons Chief Richard Currie led thousands in support of his candidacy.

“I’m happy and proud to be a Maroon because I fight in this country for where I am right now. I fight for the space that I own. Nobody gave it to me,” he explained, telling The Sunday Gleaner that when he asked on social media if he should enter politics, where he should go, it was Portland that called him.

“I threw it out in the space and Portland said come to Portland, come to Portland. I don’t know what’s going on in Portland. The only thing I knew for sure was wherever I was going to go, the Maroons would have to be there, and that’s serendipity for me, or that’s how God aligns the stars. Moore Town is where Nanny came from, and I said that’s where I’m going,” he stated.

The rest is history.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com