Region 3 Chairman’s accused of threatening media houses which reported its involvement in tax exemption scandal 

Young Jamaica, the youth arm of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), is accusing the People’s National Party (PNP) of striking another blow against press freedom in Jamaica, after a company owned by its Region 3 Chairman, Member of Parliament (MP) Dennis Gordon, reportedly instructed a law firm owned by a prominent PNP politician to write to two media houses in Jamaica, demanding that those entities back down from assertions that the company is involved in the ongoing University of Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) tax exemption scandal.

It has emerged in the public domain that a PNP caretaker, who is a member of a law firm owned by a PNP politician, wrote to the media entities and threatened legal action following the accurate reporting that JACDEN Limited is involved in the tax exemption imbroglio. Additional confirmation of JACDEN’s involvement came earlier this week during a meeting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

One media entity chose to apologise for the correct reporting and proceeded to falsely assert that JACDEN is not involved in the tax exemption scandal, while another stood its ground. Young Jamaica is of the view that it is disgraceful and simply not right for an entity to threaten legal action against the media for reporting the truth.

Young Jamaica is hopeful that the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) and the Opposition Spokesperson on Information, MP Nekeisha Burchell, will join well-thinking Jamaicans in strongly condemning the actions of the entity owned by the PNP Region 3 Chairman and other PNP affiliates, as striking yet another unfortunate blow to press freedom in Jamaica.