ECONOMIST RYAN STRAUGHN who has been nominated to represent the Barbados Labour Party in the next general elections hit the road in the constituency yesterday evening to get a feel of the people.
During a mass canvass that covered several parts of the Kingsland district in the Christ Church East Central Constituency, Straughn, party leader Mia Mottley and other members got to hear some of the concerns of the residents, both young and old.
Straughn said unemployment was the major concern expressed by the young people, some of whom said they had not worked in over seven years even though they were well qualified.
The team of canvassers met at the Deighton Griffith Secondary School before separating into teams of two or three persons.  The team which included Cynthia Forde, Ralph Thorne, Reginald Farley, Trevor Prescod, Santia Bradshaw and Indar Weir spent close to two hours canvassing residents before meeting back at the school for an informal debriefing session.
The seat is currently held by Minister of Education Ronald Jones of the Democratic Labour Party.
 Mottley said the party had spent the last eight weeks in Christ Church canvassing the constituencies where they did not have a member of parliament.  She said the canvass will move onto St Lucy, before tackling St Peter in the New Year. (LK)
