The leadership of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is insisting that the Opposition People’s National Party’s (PNP) attempt to discredit the Government’s proposals to benefit the lives of struggling Jamaicans is a demonstration that the PNP is out of touch with the realities of citizens and confirmation of its unsuitability to manage the country’s affairs.

According to senior member of the JLP’s Communications Task Force Marlon Morgan, the PNP has been hasty and callous in its attempts to “tear down and disparage the raft of people-centred and well-thought-out measures announced by Prime Minister and JLP Leader Andrew Holness this past Sunday at our party’s annual conference”.

Morgan, who was addressing a post-conference press briefing at the JLP’s Belmont Road headquarters on Friday, said the ruling party strongly rejects and condemns “the feeble attempt by the PNP and its surrogates in the public domain to denounce the economic and social reform measures announced by Prime Minister Holness as a “straight giveaway, election ploy and an attempt to ‘run wid it’.

“Having stabilised the Jamaican economy, the reform and alleviation measures are a fulfilment of our commitment to pass on gains to the Jamaican people… The announced measures are demonstrable acts of care on the part of the Andrew Holness-led JLP Government. We are intent to make the lives of people easier and to ease the cost of living burden that we know confronts our society,” he said.

Pointing to one of the measures announced by the prime minister — a $20,000 grant to needy Jamaicans over 18 years old who are not registered with the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), or the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), and who are not on the social pension programme — Morgan said this is an active effort by the Government to spread the benefits to a wide cross section of Jamaican people.

“We are unapologetic in our efforts to attend to our Jamaican brothers and sisters. So, those who want to describe it as giveaway, those who want to describe it as handout, it is time for them to come off that soapbox, and, of course, stop berating and decrying the Government’s efforts to attend to and address the plight confronting our Jamaican brothers and sisters who are not as fortunate as others, and of course, who are not ‘tapanaris’ in Jamaican society,” he said.

Morgan further insisted that the measures are a means of putting money back into the pockets of Jamaicans, “something we have been doing from day one”.

“So any suggestion, any intimation that the initiatives announced by PM Holness this Sunday is somehow a ploy to induce or attract votes is simply baseless, absurd, and quite frankly contentious of the intelligence and the sensibilities of the Jamaican people,” he said.

He also encouraged Jamaicans to carefully consider which of the two major political parties has their best interests at heart, insisting that Jamaica is in safe hands with the JLP Government.

“We are the people of fiscal responsibility, we are the people of prudent management of our public finances and of our nation’s resources, and Jamaica has every reason… to stick with the Jamaica Labour Party Government,” he said, adding that the JLP is active and strong in delivering additional programmes and interventions to ease the burden on Jamaicans, in particular policies and interventions which will serve to mitigate cost of living challenges.

Portland Western Member of Parliament and Energy Minister Daryl Vaz also addressed the press conference and again highlighted Holness’s announcement regarding plans to remove the non-tax threshold on electricity and replace it with an incentive-compatible rebate of GCT for people who use 200 kilowatts or less per month. He said that this will benefit approximately 380,000 Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) customers.

He said a task force has been formed, coming out of a meeting on Tuesday with the finance and energy ministries and JPS “which is going to now do a deep dive into what else can be done to cushion the effect of electricity bills and inflation on the Jamaican people”.

The JLP officials also defended the prime minister’s announcement of a waiver on debts in excess of six months owed to the National Water Commission, saying that it is yet another indication that the JLP Administration cares for the people of Jamaica and is taking tangible action to demonstrate that.

Senior member of the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP’s) communications task force Marlon Morgan makes a point while addressing a press briefing at the party’s Belmont Road headquarters on Friday. Joseph Wellington