Monthly Archives: July 2021

Losers Unite !

Jamaica days, Mark Golding, PNP, , ,

Ian Hayles and Richard Azan both lost their seats in the last election, but, as Golding loyalists, they are both on track to be elected PNP Vice Presidents at the party congress in September. They were at Peter Bunting’s Central Manchester constituency conference to show support for Bunting who, after 13 years, was ousted on September 3, 2020 as Manchester Central MP by Rhoda Moy Crawford. Apparently the 3 losers united in attacking Miss Crawford, with Azan even going so far as to say she was not quite right upstairs. The PNP don’t seem to have learned that sexist attacks on JLP women don’t work (see Damian Crawford’s comments about Ann Marie Vaz).

In fact, it is unlikely that either Hayles or Azan would be in line for such important posts as Vice President if Bunting had won last September and become PNP President and Leader of the Opposition, since Bunting is a far more adept politician than the flailing Golding.

Meanwhile Karen Cross launched a Go Fund Me to raise funds to pay the fine incurred when she declined to take down various posts on social media defaming PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell. All in all it’s been a bad couple of weeks for the One PNP faction.

The Government on a slippery slope

Last week CAPRI advised the government that the current minimum wage is too low to ensure families can live above poverty level and only 1 in 4 needy families received funds from the Government’s Care package.

The Government’s decision to relax the coronavirus restrictions also looks to have been a very bad decision as positivity rates and hospitalisations have arced upwards. If schools can’t open in September because of the spread of the virus, the pandemic will have dealt a killer blow to Jamaica’s Vision 2030 as hundreds of thousands of students fall so far behind in their education that they can never catch up.

And despite the Ministry of Health’s best efforts thousands of health care workers are declining to take the vaccine, making the Government’s plans to reach herd immunity slip further out of reach.

Meanwhile there have been 806 murders up till July 24, 2021, an increase of 52 over the same period in 2020. Crime is one area where the Government needs to make some progress soon, as nothing much has happened since the JLP taking office in 2016. The only thing saving the Government from abject failure is the relative popularity of the Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson.

Entertainment Report ?

Jamaica days, Mark Golding, PNP

The Prime Minister opened the Entertainment sector and the PNP immediately trended on Twitter as its 4 Vice Presidents and the Head of the PNP YO resigned. Julian Robinson denied that he was about to become Leader of the Opposition as it was rumoured the majority of PNP MP’s were headed to Kings House to tell the Governor General that they had lost confidence in Mark Golding.

Phillip Paulwell claimed that his US visa was taken away through the machinations of other comrades and Krystal Tomlinson accused her General Secretary of forming fraudulent groups with a view to manipulating future elections.

Although Mark Golding lost a spat with Ann Marie Vaz (who has a bigger problem with murders, Portland Eastern or St Andrew South ? Golding had more murders by more than 6 to 1 ), he seems to have won the battle for control of the party. He has lost the most popular member of the PNP, Damian Crawford, but of course popularity is relative, as Crawford lost a PNP safe seat to aforementioned JLP newcomer Ann Marie Vaz.

We should all be hoping that the PNP now settles down and goes back to rebuilding its base as, entertaining though the infighting is, a strong Opposition is a necessary part of good governance.

The Government continued with the clean up in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Elsa and continued to struggle in governance matters as Minister of National Security Horace Chang suggested that INDECOM should be reined in and the Integrity Commission is charging 2 unidentified lawmakers with illicit enrichment.

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No elections ! I mean it this time !

Covid-19, Jamaica days, Mark Golding, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, ,

The Prime Minister Andrew Holness says there are no local government elections this year. Based on his denials last year, that means we can expect the elections to be called in August.

The junior doctors staged a one day sick out which was apparently enough to force the Ministry of Health to address some of their most pressing issues – length of contracts and payment of gratuities.

Vaccines have arrived (65,000 doses) in time to give everyone who needs it a second dose. However the European Union is still banning visitors who received the Indian made Astra Zeneca vaccine, as opposed to the European made Astra Zeneca vaccine.

Tropical Storm Elsa passed through and exposed the fact that, toll roads excepted, the roads recently constructed in the Corporate Area and elsewhere were built without adequate drainage. Bring back Gully Government !

And the Opposition’s own goals continue as the PNP-controlled Westmoreland Municipal Corporation has issued a stop order on the construction of a house being built by the PNP’s O.T. Fairclough Trust Fund, which was established last year by Opposition Leader Mark Golding. Apparently, there is neither a building permit nor a waiver in place. Golding caused much hilarity on social media recently when he was filmed at the house placing a block without using mortar.

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