No idlers! - JLP wants only serious attendees at annual conference

Deputy leader for the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Area Council One, Desmond McKenzie, has put Labourites on notice that the party's 79th annual conference will not be business as usual. 

Speaking at the JLP's St Andrew North Eastern divisional conference at the Girl Guides Association headquarters in St Andrew today, McKenzie told supporters that next Sunday's meeting of the party's highest decision-making body will not be about frolicking. 

“It's not going to be a conference where you come and ring bell and drink and jump up and down and show off your outfit,” McKenzie said. 

“[At] this year's conference, we need to arm ourselves with the knowledge and information so we can challenge the people who are spreading mischief about the performance of your party and Government,” he added. 

McKenzie said that it is customary for four sets of people to attend the JLP's annual conference —those who attend to show off, those who do so for no reason, those to meet their significant other and those who attend to listen. 

“I want the other three to stay home. I want the one to come who will listen because it is important for Labourites to be able to challenge mischief makers. Labourites must be able to challenge those persons who see O and call it P,” he insisted. 

McKenzie argued that challenges, including crime, abound, but noted that they are not unique to Jamaica. 

He said Jamaicans should be proud of the Holness administration for how it has weathered the storm brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The local government minister said Jamaica is doing “five times” better than most countries, including developed ones. 

He echoed similar messages from Councillor Duane Smith and Member of Parliament Donovan Williams that no public sector worker lost their job during the period. 

“Labourites, we must never ever be afraid to talk about what the Government and Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Jamaica Labour Party have done,” he said. 

The conference is set for Independence Park. 

- Kimone Francis

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