Golding: Crime, health, education present challenges to PNP’s mission

Opposition Leader Mark Golding has listed crime, education and health issues as some of the “challenges” to be faced by his party should it become the next Government.

Golding made the observations while presenting the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Trelawny candidates for local government and general elections during a meeting held at William Knibb Memorial High School in the parish on Sunday night.

“This party has some challenges to it’s mission. We need a safer country, we need an education system which will not have children graduating from primary school without being able to read or write. Our citizens need to be trained so they can earn a decent salary,” Golding told the gathering.

Within the past week, a RJRGLEANER Communications Group-commissioned poll conducted by the Don Anderson-led Market Research Services Limited showed that, at this point, Golding’s party is in a close race for supremacy with the Andrew Holness-led ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). Of respondents polled, 29.1 per cent said if an election were called now they would vote for the PNP; this against 26.1 per cent who said they would vote for the JLP.

A total of 23.8 per cent of respondents said they have not yet made up their minds, while 20.6 per cent said they will not vote. The poll has a plus or minus three per cent margin for error.

HEALTH SECTOR IN CHAOS

Commenting further at Sunday’s event, the PNP president also looked at the health sector and criticised ongoing work at the western region’s prime medical facility to highlight the Government’s shortcomings.

“This section is in chaos. Look at Cornwall Regional Hospital where in Accident and Emergency there are insufficient beds. This hospital has $14 billion repair bill and counting and cannot be completed,” Golding observed of rehabilitation works that started in March 2018 with an initial projection of $2 billion.

He made an appeal to the Comrades and representatives that the party has chosen.

“We need to work so that we can once again be in control of Government. The PNP has the track record of achievement, so I encourage you to go out there and do the work,” Golding urged.

The party president announced Dennis Meadows and Fabian Davis as its chief standard-bearers in the parish, where they will run as candidates for parliamentary elections – Davis for Trelawny Southern and Meadows for Trelawny Northern. Davis has also been named to contest the Duncans division in the local government elections.

Meadows had unsuccessfully challenged for the Trelawny Northern constituency on three occasions when he represented the JLP in the 2007, 2011 and 2016 general elections. He recently switched allegiance.

The candidates presented for local government elections were Roydel Hamilton, Donovan Haughton, Garth Wilkinson, Charles Wilson, Andrea Ellis, Lloyd Gilling, Gregory Clarke, Mark Mundy and Davis.

In his speech, Meadows, a former senator, repeated a previous call for the naming of the six parliamentarians recommended by the Integrity Commission to be charged for “illicit enrichment”.

“I respectfully ask the prime minister to name the six members of his party who have come in for negative report. Most importantly, I beg of the head of Government to come forward and tell the nation if he is one of the six,” Meadows said.

He also gave a promise to the Comrades.

“I promise, when elected, to serve you faithfully, fearlessly and fairly,” Meadows said.