Leader of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) Mark Golding outlined that Jamaica is at a critical juncture where the people are anxious to see a change, a new Jamaica, and a government in which they can put their trust and confidence.

Golding stated that citizens are tired of all the scandals under the Andrew Holness-led government. He recalled an instance where the government of Morocco gifted fertiliser to Jamaica for the farmers of Jamaica who needed help after Hurricane Beryl, but it was sold to the farmers instead of being given.

“The cronies of this government took the fertiliser and sold it to the farmers who are in distress. It’s a disgrace,” he said.

The opposition leader further alluded to the water issue at the popular recreational site, Dunn’s River, which has reportedly become unsafe due to elevated total and faecal coliform levels. He outlined that the government should publicly release all water quality data from Dunn’s River and surrounding areas to protect citizens. “Because you can’t sweep things like water quality under the carpet. If there is an issue, it must be addressed transparently so people know what is going on. And the minister of water [Matthew Samuda] didn’t adopt that posture. That is the type of governance this government is offering.”

He also stated that it’s because of these issues that his party committed to putting ethics at the centre of governance again. “We will be an upstanding government in the interest of the people. A government in which people can have trust and confidence. We want to start a movement when we form the government. We want it to be led by well-thinking Jamaicans, the churches, civil society organisations, and academia, to try and bring back love into society. Bring back decency. Bring back caring. Bring back the values and attitudes that Jamaica used to be known for,” Golding continued.

Golding also stated that under this government, Jamaica has lost its way, while outlining that the PNP will have to restore it. “Comrades, I will support the Integrity Commission as an institution. I was the architect of it. It was under my watch as Minister of Government under Portia Simpson-Miller. We redesigned the Integrity Commission to bring together the different anti-corruption bodies in the country into one and give them prosecutorial powers and the ability to receive and share information with other agencies of government where they hadn’t had that ability before,” he added while revealing that the government is trying its best to undermine the Integrity Commission.

He also urged the Jamaican people to stand up and put an end to corruption. “We cannot have a government where the head of the stream has this cloud hanging over it. It’s not a good look for us. People are watching at home and abroad. The Jamaican people must stand up for what is right in the same way that we had to stand up against the states of emergency, which were being abused by this government.”

Golding said the government was using the states of emergency like a policing tool, which, according to the constitution, should be used for extreme situations or where the very existence of the democratic order of the country is under threat. “Prior to this government coming into power, it had only been very sparingly used twice or three times since independence, and under this government, they used it over 20 times in a few years, and it wasn’t working.

“If it wasn’t for the People’s National Party, they’d have been continuing with the failing policy of the state of emergency. Also, the constitutional court of Jamaica has ruled in our favour and said that all of those states of emergency that they impose are null and void and unconstitutional,” Golding added.