Ahloy Hunt: ex-soldier campaigns for St Joseph

After a military career spanning more than two decades, retired Lt Col Ahloy Hunt Jr is preparing for a battle, this time at the polls, as he contests the St Joseph seat as a candidate for the United National Congress (UNC) for this year's general election.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced him as the party's candidate for St Joseph on May 21.

Hunt has had experience in developing organisations like the Special Anti-Crime Unit of TT (SAUTT), the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) and the National Operations Centre (NOC).

After retiring from the regiment in 2012, he spent some time working as a lecturer for organisations including the Judiciary in problem-solving, time management and decision-making.

Speaking with Newsday last week, Hunt, 55, didn't want to say exactly when he became involved with the UNC, but said he decided to enter politics when he saw a lack of transparency in spending and wastage of money under the current administration.

He was also concerned for the country his children and grandchildren would inherit, noting a need for greater accountability and representation from leaders.

"I have two daughters who recently migrated to the US. I also have two more daughters and a special-needs child that needs constant care.

"I always knew the circumstances in the country could be better. I've travelled all over the world and I see countries with much less resources than us, but their standard of living is so much better, and I am taken aback because of this situation, where we have so many people living under the poverty line. Instead of progressing, we are regressing."

The youngest of three children, Hunt was named after his father, Ahloy Hunt Sr, who worked as a salesman and mechanic. His mother was a seamstress.

"When my brother (former PNM sports minister Gary Hunt) was born, he was the first, and my mother insisted they give him the name Gary, and I was the last boy, and my father insisted I took his name."

A Queen's Royal College old boy, Hunt said he did his A-Levels whien he was already a soldier. He later got an MBA at the School of Business and Computer Science and a masters incriminology from Cambridge University.

Hunt joined the regiment in 1988 and was trained at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, alongside present Police Commissioner Gary Griffith and Chief of Defence Staff Air Cmdr Darryl Daniel ,as part of the same "batch."

Contacted for comment, Griffith said he could not speak on Hunt's qualities as a soldier, as that might be seen as an endorsement of his candidacy. But Griffith said the vetting process for admission to Sandhurst was a stringent one to pick only the top officers from Commonwealth countries.

"Only the best are admitted to Sandhurst. While there you are subjected to intense physical and mental training that equips you for military life."

During the 1990 attempted coup, Hunt was stationed in Tobago, where he was responsible for organising soldiers on the island and co-ordinating activities to maintain law and order, experiences he said have equipped him with the necessary qualities to represent St Joseph.

If elected, Hunt knows his duties and responsibilities will be very different. He says he has already identified concerns among the residents, who he said are fed up of poor representation by the current MP, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.

"I recently walked through one of the polling divisions in my constituency and it's really sad to see how some people are living.

"The river at the back of Grand Bazaar runs through the southern boundary of one of my polling divisions and it has been building up with silt. People live close to the banks, the councillors have been begging for the local government agencies to dredge the mouth of the river where it accumulates – these people have suffered from floods with up to eight feet of water in their homes."

Hunt said while he acknowledged Deyalsingh had a demanding job as the Minister of Health, that was no excuse to be absent from his constituency.

"Having spoken to so many people in the constituency, they all agree the representation is not good. What everyone seems to be complaining about is the absence of politicians unless it's time for votes.

"Although you may be saddled with a portfolio that requires a lot of your time, you cannot forget who put you there. Your main priority is to represent the people and improve, where possible, their way of life."

Hunt said he has spent his entire life in the area. He now lives at the boundary between St Joseph and Curepe, and his first job was teaching at St Joseph Boys' RC School before joining the army.

Hunt's older brother Gary was minister of sport and youth affairs from 2007-2010, during the Manning administration. Asked his brother's thoughts on his decision to enter politics with the UNC, Hunt said he preferred not to speak on Gary's behalf.

Given his experience in the military and his work in SAUTT, Hunt said while it was possible he may be an asset as national security minister in the event of a UNC victory, he was prepared to serve in whatever portfolio he was handed.

"There is no expectation on my part. Security and criminology are where my expert knowledge lies, but I never had intentions of coming into politics to be the next minister of national security. That was never my focus. This was about me offering myself to the party because I want to see change generally...

"I am the candidate for the UNC for this constituency and we are going to fight an election to win. After that, wherever the Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, wants me to serve, I am available to her."

St Joseph has traditionally been considered a PNM stronghold, but has in fact had a turbulent history. It has been been wrested from the party over the years, beginning with the victory of the National Alliance for Reconstruction in 1986, when Dr Carson Charles won the seat. In 1995 Mervyn Assam took it for the UNC and in 2015 former judge Herbert Volney again brought it back for the UNC.

Current MP Deyalsingh won the seat through a 2013 by-election, brought about when it was declared vacant after Volney crossd the floor to Jack Warner's Independent Liberal Party.

Deyalsingh garnered 6,357 votes over UNC candidate Ian Alleyne, who won 5,577 votes.

Newsday tried to get a comment from Volney on Hunt's candidacy and his chances of winning.

Volney referred to a series of posts on his Facebook account where he endorsed Deyalsingh over Hunt, saying while he could not dispute Hunt's credentials, he did not believe he could wrest the constituency away from Deyalsingh, who was more popular.

"It’s nothing personal. I’m pretty sure that Mr Hunt has good credentials but we do not know him in the constituency, nor has he made himself known in any extraordinary way in the national life," Volney wrote.