PETER CHRISTOPHER
peter.christopher@guardian.co.tt
United National Congress (UNC) candidate for the St Joseph Ahloy Hunt says he will be focussing on crime during his campaign for the upcoming general elections.
He was speaking on a walkabout of Bamboo Settlement yesterday.
His team was armed with masks and hand sanitizers during their walk.
It proved a glimpse of what campaigning in the upcoming election season may look like with the lingering threat of COVID-19.
“We’re adhering to the health order,” he said.
“We will ensure that we keep our social distancing and of course in groups of no more than five, so we will have groups yes but no more than five and split up,” the former Lieutenant Colonel Hunt added before the walkabout yesterday.
While the elements of election walkabouts were also present, including a car driving by with a bullhorn announcing Hunt’s presence, the interactions with members of the public saw the candidate standing a significant distance off the residents.
Groups of four followed Hunt as he approached residents, while other members of the walkabout scouted other homes.
“This is the first stage of linking with the people of this particular area, this polling division. It is my first step in meeting and letting the people see who I am,” he said, while also giving an admittance that it was his first time interacting with people from the area.
“I have not heard from them before. This is my first walkabout. I have information that was presented to me. Today is a confirmation of those issues,” Hunt said.
He was not the only potential name on the ballot list in the upcoming general elections to walk their prospective constituency over the weekend.
On Saturday, Winston ‘Gypsy’ Peters held a meet and greet in Moruga, days after being screened for the Moruga/Tableland seat for the PNM.
Hunt may be new to the political scene, but his brother Gary Hunt served as Minister of Sport from 2007 to 2010 as a member of the People’s National Movement.
He said his choice to join the UNC was based on “better governance, better quality representation, and a whole host of other things that I don’t want to get into because I don’t want to compare the other side.”
His focus, he said, was the crime situation.
“I think the answer is obvious...based on the current crime situation, again I don’t want to explashiate into areas. I want to hold back a bit for when the time is right but the current state of security requires somebody with immense experience, capability, knowledge to really take all the forces in Trinidad and Tobago under the Ministry of National Security forward.”
The Hunts would not be the first set of brothers who have served opposing political parties. Danny and Robin Montano similarly had differing affiliations during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Danny Montano served as a Minister and Senator for the People’s National Movement while Robin Montano served as a senator under the UNC before joining the Independent Liberal Party.