KINGSTON, Jamaica — People’s National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) President, Connoly Black has responded to claims by Stephen Edwards, president of the youth arm of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Generation 2000 (G2K), that the Government saved the country from a ‘poisonous vine’ planted by the PNP.

Edwards said that the JLP inherited a dire situation from the Opposition PNP where a land revaluation exercise that was done in 2013 would have lead to massive increases in property values and property taxes by extension. In a column published in the Jamaica Observer today, Edwards argued that in simply rolling out the new property tax regime rather than highlighting the past situation, “the Andrew Holness-led Government chose to spend some of its tremendous political capital to clean up the previous Administration’s mess”.

However, Black hit back this afternoon, saying Edwards was “putting politics before the people as he defends the cruel implementation of these taxes”.

Her full response is below:

There is an old Jamaican proverb that reminds us that you don’t drink poison to see if Bissy works. After reading Stephen Edwards’ article ‘Poisonous property tax vine was planted long ago’ this Jamaican proverb has finally held true; its essence is what I would ask the G2K and the JLP led administration to pull on. 

Yes, it is true that the revaluation was done under the PNP government which is standard for a government to undergo revaluation exercises. However, if we recall the 2015 IMF review we will see where it was recorded that even when this was an option the People’s National Party’s did not implement it out of concern for the people of Jamaica, and I quote “The authorities are weighing these options and are conscious of minimizing the impact on lower income groups.” This is the purpose of a government to protect its most vulnerable like a father would a child. 

The PNP when it came to the property taxes saw the country as its child, but, the child was sick and burdened. How could a concerned father not try to shield his frail child from the hardships of life, how could he not try to protect his child. We don’t have the answer but this JLP-led administration surely does. Just ask them how they could have unleashed these billions of dollars in new taxes to the already burdened people of Jamaica.

If the government says it was testing the people. Testing them for what? If the vine was in fact poisonous – were you testing to see how much it would sting? How many more tests of suffering can you put our people through while they sit and pray that they survive it? What will you now tell the people who have seen their property taxes multiplied and the cost of taking care of their families constantly increasing?

We are sorry that the president of the G2K is so far removed from these realities – and is putting politics before the people as he defends the cruel implementation of these taxes. It is troubling that a party which considers itself the custodians of prosperity, would overlook the realities Jamaicans would face from this property tax.

The People’s National Party has taken a stance to move beyond the politics, to create a country that works for all – not some. To put Jamaica first and to protect the most vulnerable in our society and we would suggest that this administration does the same. We are out of many one people not one political party.

Connoly Black

PNPYO President