Dear Editor,

Recent utterances by Clarendon North Central Memebr of Parliament (MP) Robert Morgan at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) conference at the Newell High School in St Elizabeth on Thursday, November 10 and reported on November 12 in your daily publication under the headline ‘ “PNP never build a hospital in Jamaica,” says Morgan’ is a clear example of negationism. For those not familiar with the term, it is also called denialism and refers to the distortion of historical records.

Morgan then went on to list the hospitals built by the JLP and cited Cornwall Regional Hospital, May Pen Hospital, Bustamante Hospital for Children, and Chapleton Hospital. To put it into context, yes, the Cornwall Regional Hospital was started by the JLP Government of the 1960s and completed by the People’s National Party (PNP) Government of the 1970s. The hospital was built based on a design from Canada, wherein the Government built a hospital designed for a temperate climate in this tropical country.

A point of correction, however, is that the totally new May Pen Hospital in Clarendon was built by the PNP Government of the 1990s and opened in 1997. All other hospitals which have been mentioned — in fact, all other public hospitals in the country — were built prior to independent Jamaica, but over the years significant improvements have been done to the plants, in terms of upgrades, even the Chapleton Hospital with its new wing to be opened soon existed prior to the establishment of any political party in Jamaica, having been established around 1903.

So, for Morgan, who in his presentation in the State of the Constituency Debate stated that he was born at Cocoa Piece, a son of Clarendon, to not have known that befuddles me.

If Morgan was minded to check the facts, he would not have embarrassed himself.

Morgan needs to acquaint himself with the historical facts:

* Kingston Public Hospital Accident and Emergency wing with major surgical theatres and wards was constructed under the PNP Administration when Dr Peter Phillips was Health Minister and John Junor presided over the opening.

*May Pen Hospital was built and opened in 1997.

*Major expansion and additions took place at Mandeville General Hospital and the St Ann’s Bay Hospital, and significant rehabilitation took place at the Cornwall Regional Hospital subsequent to that as the second phase of hospital upgrades and expansion, all under a PNP-led Administration.

*Falmouth Hospital was significantly upgraded in 2006 with major theatres added, which, incidentally, has come to the rescue of the people of Western Jamaica requiring surgery consequent on the inability of the beleaguered Cornwall Regional Hospital to provide those services.

I hope this will dispel the misrepresentation of the facts as outlined on that fateful Thursday to his party faithfuls.

If Morgan is going to speak fulsomely about the health sector and hospitals and the contribution of different administrations, he might also want to tell those very faithfuls that the JLP-led Administration of the 1980s has the unenviable record for the number of hospitals closed. Alexandria, Buff Bay, Ulster Spring, and Isaac Barrett come readily to mind, and added to that is the downgrading of the Port Maria, Noel Holmes, and Lionel Town hospitals as well as the Chapleton Hospital.

Discussions on every front, political platform or otherwise, irrespective of how one wants to propagandise the issues, ought never to descend into negationism.

Morais V Guy

Member of Parliament

Shadow minister of health & wellness