Deputy Mayor of Portmore and councillor for the Edgewater Division, Alric Campbell, has strongly condemned a suspected act of arson perpetrated against the constituency office of the People’s National Party in the St Catherine South East area.

“I condemn the act in the strongest possible terms. I have nothing to do with it, nor would I condone such an action,” he told OBSERVER ONLINE

“We are all comrades at the end of the day and no one benefits from such a villainous act. I am expecting swift action from the police to catch the perpetrators involved,” he added.

This is the second such deliberate act of arson in the troubled PNP constituency in five weeks. Units from the Jamaica Fire Brigade were swiftly dispatched to deal with the fire, which damaged the roof of the building.

In early May, supporters of Campbell were riled up at a decision to scupper his bid to be the man charged with winning the seat for the party at the next general election and be the party’s standard bearer in South East St Catherine.

The decision was made by party President Mark Golding at a meeting held at the PNP’s Old Hope Road headquarters that declared that medical doctor Alfred Dawes would be that man instead.

Angered by the decision, protesters burned images of Dr Dawes in reaction to the party’s decision to sideline Campbell.

READ: Dawes to report bad guys in fire incident

Campbell called on the PNP leadership to intervene quickly and “cool the tensions in the area”.