Director of Major Projects at the National Works Agency (NWA), John Wright (right), Junior Minister for Transport and Works, Richard Azan (centre), and Mike Archer, contractor with Surrey, Paving and Aggregate Limited, tour sections of the road improvement project, for the Cricket World Cup, on South Camp Road in Kingston, on January 25. - File

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

DURING LAST April's swearing-in of junior Cabinet ministers at King's House, Richard Azan was so overwhelmed by his appointment to the Housing, Transport, Water and Works Ministry that he broke down in tears.

But last week, when the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) accused him of using funds from Government's Special Flood Damage Project to repair 28 roads in his North West Clarendon constituency, the portly Member of Parliament kept his nerve.

The square-off

The square-off took place on April 4 at a meeting of the Standing Finance Committee (SFC). Audley Shaw, the JLP Spokesman on Finance, said Azan's alleged action was a case of blatant victimisation.

Shaw added that he had a list of the roads that have been fixed to back the Opposition's charges.

Other JLP MPs, including Clive Mullings of West Central St. James, claimed that Azan had also entered their constituencies to fix roads without consulting them. Rather, they said he was accompanied by PNP caretakers.

Bobby Pickersgill, the Housing, Transport, Water and Works Minister, came to the defence of his deputy during the SFC session. He said the accusations against Azan were baseless.

Azan, a businessman who is serving his first term as a parliamentarian, also hit back. In a letter published in the Observer newspaper on Sunday, he said JLP MPs have benefited from 45 per cent of funds from the Special Flood Damage Project, a $2.5 billion fund established to repair parish council roads and bridges.

"Clearly, this does not indicate victimisation," Azan wrote.

The spat between Azan and the JLP started in mid-2006 when the former refused to take responsibility for clogged drains in West Kingston, the constituency of JLP leader Bruce Golding.

Azan said he had spoken to Golding about the drains, a claim the Opposition Leader denied. At a JLP rally in Clarendon on April 1, Golding said Azan was unworthy of being a parliamentarian, describing him as a "political relic".

A born-again Christian, Richard Azan is considered by some political analysts as one of the PNP's rising stars. Born in Clarendon, he is a respected businessman in his home parish.

He was an unknown when he was selected by the PNP to oppose veteran trade unionist Clifton Stone in the 2002 General Election. Many credit Azan's standing in the community for pulling off one of the poll's biggest upsets.

In late 2005, Azan was appointed deputy campaign manager for Portia Simpson Miller's run for PNP president. He was given a Cabinet post when she won and automatically became Prime Minister.

Azan made headlines prior to the SFC outburst. In June 2005, he was one of several parliamentarians who refused to sign a document drafted by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) calling for politicians to distance themselves from criminals.

In February, he and May Pen Mayor Milton Brown clashed over Azan's decision to break ground for a new market in Spaldings. Brown argued that the MP had done so without permission from the parish council.

Winston Maragh, the JLP councillor for the Rocky Point division in Clarendon, has mixed views on Azan.

"His people must see him as a good MP because of the many projects he has in his constituency," Maragh said.

On the flip side, Maragh agrees with JLP parliamentarians that Azan has a lot to learn about diplomacy.

"The MP (Ruddy Spencer, for South East Clarendon) and I were doing a beach project in Rocky Point last month and all of a sudden he came in with television cameras and reporters without saying anything to us."

How well Richard Azan has done as MP will be known come election time. His opponent in North West Clarendon will be another highly thought of politician, the JLP's Michael Stern.