A second People’s National Party (PNP) candidate is indebted to the Government, in relation to taxes.

Dr Lynvale Bloomfield on Thursday confirmed to the Jamaica Observer that he owes the State, but said he has been making payments agreed with the tax authorities.

Bloomfield, who won the Portland Eastern seat in the 2011 General Election, said his tax problems worsened after he broke his hip in March 2012.

“Remember, I had a major accident. It triggered off a whole heap of stuff,” Dr Bloomfield told the Sunday Observer. “Remember, for months I couldn’t move, I had no means of earning, but in the meantime I had to resort to making the arrangements, which I am honouring, so it’s not anything new.”

Bloomfield, a medical doctor, said: “When you do work like mine, you have to be there, and then it had implications for other businesses, so it impacted and kept rolling,” he said.

Bloomfield argued that his political opponents inside the PNP are trying to use his financial circumstances to derail his campaign which, he said, has been “going good” so far.

Last Thursday, John-Paul White, who was the PNP candidate for Trelawny Northern, stepped down after news emerged that his company, Equilibrio Solutions Jamaica Limited, had owed $17 million in taxes.

A Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) demand notice — dated January 28, and served on White’s company — shows that the entity had not paid the $17 million plus in taxes to the Government of Jamaica. The TAJ notice said the tax debt is to be paid immediately, and that interest and penalties will accrue until returns are filed and payments are made.

A payment order was also served on White in relation to General Consumption Tax and Income tax.

Last Tuesday, White paid $3 million on the amount owed and subsequently told the country in a press release that a payment plan has been agreed upon between his company and TAJ for a principal amount to be paid and monthly payments to be made thereafter until the balance is liquidated.