Golding chides Vaz for deafening silence on Portland murders
Published:Friday | July 9, 2021 | 12:09 AMGareth Davis Sr/Gleaner Writer
BOUNDBROOK, Portland:
People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding on Wednesday chided East Portland Member of Parliament (MP) Ann-Marie Vaz for what he described as her deafening silence on the spate of murders plaguing the once-peaceful parish.
Golding, who was guest speaker at a divisional conference in Port Antonio, where veteran Councillor Dexter Rowland was elected by acclamation, argued that the murder rate in Portland has doubled when compared to the corresponding period last year, but that Vaz has maintained her silence.
The PNP leader, who visited the Rio Grande Valley and met with the bereaved family members of Lorraine Ming, expressed shock at what he described as the alarming increase in murders in the north eastern parish, which has the distinction of being the most peaceful place in the country.
Ming, a former cricketer, is the latest person to be killed in Portland by gunmen. He was shot multiple times by a lone gunman while playing a poker box inside a bar in the farming community of Windsor in the Rio Grande Valley.
“What I am hearing is the fear on the ground because of the rapid increase in murders in the parish,” said Golding.
“In fact, I was told that this year there have been 11 murders already, which is about the same as the whole of last year. So the rate has doubled, but the funny thing is, I haven’t heard your member of parliament say anything about that. It has just been silence,” he noted.
The husband-and-wife team of Daryl Vaz and Ann-marie Vaz are the MPs for the two constituencies in Portland, with the former in charge of West Portland.
Data from the police have revealed that since the start of 2021, there have been 11 murders in the Portland Police Division, when compared to four during the same period last year.