Generation 2000 (G2K), the young professional affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), has accused the People’s National Party (PNP) of “creating public confusion” over efforts to fight the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

‘We have evidence of no less than seven of its representatives — Members of Parliament (MPs) and MP caretakers — circulating branded material on social media under the guise of public sensitisation regarding the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19),” G2K President Ryan Strachan said in a press statement.

“One is led to question the motives behind this sensitisation attempt by the PNP, as the flyers, which bore the name, title, and picture of each candidate, did not bear the contact numbers of the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Government’s official information source. Rather, each flyer had a different phone number, which heightened the confusion. In the interest of the public, and the lives at stake, we ask that this be discontinued with immediate effect as now is not the time for political point-scoring,” said Strachan.

“G2K believes that the MPs and MP caretakers in question would do well to take their cues from MP Peter Bunting, who shared a MoH-branded fact sheet related to COVID-19 and directed contact to the Ministry of Health at 888-ONE-LOVE (663-5683) among other numbers. This is, in our view, was appropriate,” the G2K president said.

“The actions of the PNP’s representatives, and by extension, the PNP itself, are alarming and border on being perceived as public mischief. In instances such as these, where every minute is critical, there is no time to be spent on distractions or middle men, as the information from the public is time-sensitive and should be relayed to the ministry directly. We hereby demand better from these MPs and caretakers and ask that they refrain from further disturbing the equilibrium that many have sacrificed to achieve and delete the applicable posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram” Javin Baker, general secretary of G2K added.