GOVERNMENT Senator Abka Fitz-Henley is pushing back against what he has describes as “a deluge of misinformation” which he says has been placed in the public domain by the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) in a bid to discredit the work of the Government.

Fitz-Henley’s comments came last Saturday in his main address to the Central Executive of Generation 2000 (G2K), the young professionals affiliate of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

He pledged to intensify work to tell the Jamaican people the truth about a range of issues on which, he said, key figures in the PNP have misled the Jamaican people.

“I heard not too long ago the former Member of Parliament for West Hanover, who is a vice-president of the PNP, seeking to discredit the Government’s black tank programme which is being rolled out. He recorded a video of several tanks which a man bought with his money from a private enterprise, and sought to represent it as evidence of partisan distribution of tanks by the Government. It turned out to be fake news being promoted by the former MP,” Fitz-Henley said.

His reference was to Ian Hayles, who is also the current PNP candidate for Westmoreland Western.

“Reports are [that] the man received death threats. The former MP should be ashamed of himself. We will not resile from calling out misinformation being entered into the public domain by the PNP,” Fitz-Henley said.

He also chided PNP President Mark Golding and Opposition Senator Peter Bunting who recently criticised as a misrepresentation the Government’s insistence that it has imposed no new taxes on the Jamaican people for the past seven years.

“Now, these are two gentlemen who should have an understanding of these issues. It’s a trite and basic matter in the world of economics and finance that when the economy expands and there are more efficient collection mechanisms, revenue numbers are likely to increase. That’s what has happened with Jamaica under the Holness Administration — and it’s a good thing. However, the two senior figures in the PNP have sought to discredit and misrepresent this positive development as an indicator that new taxes have been imposed on the Jamaican people by this Administration over the past seven years. That’s false, untrue, specious even,” Senator Fitz-Henley said.

He also accused the PNP of “betraying their desperation for political power” on the altar of spreading misinformation and false narratives.

Fitz-Henley further reasoned that the PNP has moved to discredit the Government’s management of the economy because it’s “embarrassed that it has imposed billions of dollars of taxes on the backs of the Jamaica people, with little reward or tangible benefits passed on to the people”.

He urged the G2K Central Executive to assist the JLP’s communication apparatus to combat narratives being advanced by the PNP which he suggested are untrue.

“Even as we speak about the work that we have done and intended to do to better the lives of the Jamaica people, I can tell you this: Gone are the days when false information being entered into the public domain by the PNP is unresponded to. We will meet them halfway — not via tit for tat but by telling the people the truth,” he said.

“I will be depending on the executive of G2K and its wider membership to play a key role in rejecting PNP propaganda and updating the public on how the Government has been busy implementing credible measures to secure their best interest,” added Fitz-Henley.