Issue: PNP manifesto - Wheel and come again, PNP!

I note carefully that the People's National Party's (PNP) manifesto stated that they would create a Ministry of Local Government with a focus on community development. I find this very hard to believe when under its watch the community centres became non-existent.

It was the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) that restored the programmes of the Social Development Commission and some of the infrastructure.

It was the PNP that initiated the National Assistance Act to replace the Poor Relief Act, where poor relief officers would either be removed to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, or sent home. This move was stopped when the Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers' president came on the air and said the union and the officers would be taking the Government to court over this illegal act.

It was also recommended under the act that parish councils be left with the markets and cemeteries. What a laugh! Wheel and come again!

BEVERLEY GRANT

Bushy Park, St Catherine