Independent candidate spending big to unseat Bunting

In-between advertisements from the major political parties, viewers have over the past few days been seeing Rohan Chung's advertisements in prime time also.

Chung, a 29-year-old businessman with his own marketing firm, is an independent candidate contesting the Central Manchester seat.

He said that he has had his eyes set on representational politics since age nine.

"From that time I thought the country was not being managed properly and I just decided to step in. I cannot allow my parish to be stagnated anymore," he said.

Chung did not divulge his campaign budget, but said it was totally self-funded. Chung said he has been operating his firm for the past 10 years in Mandeville, and Delaware, USA.

Chung says he has been very strategic with how he presents himself to the people.

"I wanted to be normal. I did not want to seem artificial. I didn't want to have on any make-up or seem like I was going to the people fake. I wanted them to see me as I am in everyday life," he said. He believes that his background in business gives him an advantage over incumbent Peter Bunting and the Jamaica Labour Party's Rhoda Moy Crawford.

"The country needs to manage its affairs and that is what I am bringing to the table. Based on my numbers on the ground so far, I am considering about 8,000 numbers (votes) so and I am sure that my parish has woken up and is tired of the neglect," he said. There are approximately 39,000 voters on the voters' list as at July 31, 2020.

Chung, who grew up in Mandeville and Clarendon, and has said his first mission would be to ensure every constituent has water in their pipes, even via black drums.

Chung also made a bold promise to provide 100,000 "technologically advanced jobs" for Manchester. The population of Manchester is a little under 192,000.

"A lot of jobs are there that we have not negotiated on because they are not offered at our universities right now. We are 10 years behind as it relates to education and by time these kids learn how to do these jobs, we will be 20 years behind," he said. "We will be contacting Google and other agencies in terms of creating those technologically advanced jobs."

He has also proposed several billion dollars, which he says are available at the the Development Bank of Jamaica, be used to invest in small businesses in Manchester. He also wants more emphasis on south coast tourism.