KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition Leader Andrew Holness today accused Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller of protecting “failing Health Minister” Dr Fenton Ferguson.

The Jamaica Labour Party leader said by her protecting him, the prime minister is just as culpable for his failures.

In a news release Wednesday, Holness said, after consulting with former ministers of health Rudyard Spencer and Dr Ken Baugh as well as current spokesperson on health Marlene Malahoo Forte,  he has come to the conclusion that this crisis is due to the irresponsibility of the minister and the prime minister.

Holness urged Simpson Miller to act like a prime minister and remove Dr Ferguson.

“This man should not hold his job and in any self-respecting democracy, would not hold his job as minister of health,” Holness said. “We call upon the prime minister to act like a prime minister and protect the health of the people; remove that minister and place someone there who has greater competence in managing your health care. Enough is enough.”

The Opposition Leader in the release also expressed condolences to the parents who lost their babies at the University Hospital of the West Indies and Cornwall Regional Hospital as a result of an outbreak of health care-associated infections, caused by the Klebsiella and Serratia bacteria.

The Ministry of Health on Tuesday revealed that since June, 18 babies out of 42 have died at both hospitals.