Fayval Williams, Minister of Finance and the Public Service and Member of Parliament, St Andrew Eastern, says, based on a review of the People’s National Party’s (PNP) manifesto, from a financial standpoint, they have a fundamental lack of understanding, and there is no discretionary funds in the budget as proposed to be used should they be voted into power.

While speaking at the Jamaica Labour Party’s headquarters located along Belmont Road in St. Andrew on Thursday, August 14, Williams said the PNP made many promises in the manifesto, and, as the Jamaican people are pressing for the cost of those promises, the PNP has hurriedly put out a cost.

“They said that their many promises will cost 10 per cent of discretionary funds. First, I’d like Jamaicans to know that there is no major line item in the budget called discretionary funds, so for the PNP to be speaking of discretionary funds, it shows their fundamental lack of understanding of this country’s budget,” said the country’s first female finance minister.

“So, if they do not understand the budget, I want Jamaicans to really ask themselves, ‘Are the PNP ready to lead this country if they don’t understand the budget?’ I don’t believe that they are ready to lead this country,” she said.

She explained that Jamaica’s budget goes up to some major programmes of $359 billion, compensation of employees of $496 billion, interest payments of $177 billion, capital expenditure of $63 billion and other loan payments and loan receipts.

“The only line item in the budget that they could be thinking of is the line item called programmes. Programmes are recurring, which means they have to be provided for year after year after year, and includes things like PATH, grants to our schools for operations, funds for public order and safety, funds for waste management, health supplies and services, art and cultural services, social security and welfare services, which include sickness and disability, health for senior citizens, survivors assistance, funding for families and children. These are all important programmes that continue year after year after year, and so I would like the PNP to tell Jamaicans today, or any day before Election Day on September 3, 2025, which of these programmes they will cut, eliminate or differ into the future, in order to fund their raft of promises,” Fayval explained.

“And, I’m asking the Jamaican people not to let them off the hook with these promises that they’re not telling you how they will fund them. If they can’t tell you how they will fund them, then they are simply empty promises,” she said.

She also questioned if Jamaicans will be taxed more to fund the proposed ideas of the PNP, or cut something in the budget to make way for the promises or, “as the PNP has a history of doing” will they borrow to fund it.

“The PNP are the party that puts more taxes on the people. They are the party that adds more debt to the debt stock. Do not let them anywhere near Jamaica House. They will wreck the economy again. They do not understand this country’s budget. They do not understand government, and the PNP are not ready to lead,” she warned.

She also backed Dr Christopher Tufton, Campaign Chairman, JLP, about the errors in the PNP’s manifesto, and the confusion over whether its pillars are eight, 10 or 11.

“The fact that the PNP does not know if they’re talking about eight, 10 or 11 pillars shows a slapdashness about the PNP’s manifesto,” Fayval said. She added that in the table of contents, the PNP has eight pillars, in Mark Golding’s written segment of the manifesto, he referenced 10 pillars, and in their diagram, which is spelt out in Jamaica Love, they itemised 11 pillars.

“So which is it? Eight, 10 or 11 pillars? The maths is not mathsing,” she said.