Hours after backlash over new revelations around Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ recent appearance at a hotel opening in The Bahamas, there were ongoing mixed reactions permeating Twitter as de facto Information Minister Robert Nesta Morgan continued to defend the trip. 

It was revealed at Wednesday’s (February 9) post-Cabinet press briefing that Sandals Resorts International (SRI) covered all expenses of Holness except a US$380 per diem charge.

The minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with responsibility for Information, stressed in a series of tweets that there was precedent as previous prime ministers also accepted invitations to attend hotel openings by Sandals Group.

Under late founder Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, Sandals has flown successive government leaders, Morgan maintained, adding that the gestures, for which the Jamaican tourism conglomerate pays in full, could be viewed as tradition. 

“Whenever this company is opening a major resort internationally, the Jamaican Prime Minister is asked to open it. From the days of Manley, PJ, Simpson Miller, Golding and now PM Holness. This Jamaican Company always provides a plane for the trip,” Morgan tweeted. 

“This is one a the biggest companies in Jamaica and one of Jamaica’s biggest exports. At the recent Bahamas opening we found out that a large number of the people working at the hotel were Jamaicans. Golding also opened one of the hotels,” the minister added.

Justification aside, many Jamaican Twitter users found Morgan’s remarks ‘lazy’ and chided the Government for resisting calls to change its modus operandi and meaningfully address the perceptions of separation (or the lack thereof) of public and private interests. 

“The trip in all fairness appears more to be a private venture than an official government task, which is the source for criticism. Does the government have a substantial stake in said business to warrant its most senior official to attend an opening ceremony?” replied @IngeniusRandom.

More reactions:

Loyalists to Holness’ leadership insist that the ‘faux-outrage’ is overblown, with fellow OPM minister without portfolio Matthew Samuda expressing surprise Morgan even had to provide ‘clarity’ to the matter. 

“Surprised you had to tweet this bro, but we press on,” Samuda wrote.

• RELATED: Jamaicans berate Holness ‘conflict of interest’ as Gov’t confirms Sandals paid for Bahamas trip