Former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament (MP) for St Ann North West, Othneil Lawrence is daring Opposition Leader Mark Golding to repeat statements he made inside the Parliament during his contribution to the Budget Debate on March 17, so he can sue him for defamation.

The call by Lawrence for Golding to repeat the statements outside the Parliament is an acknowledgement by the former MP that Golding is protected by absolute privilege for anything he says inside the Parliament and, as such, neither he nor any media organisation that repeats the alleged defamatory statements can be sued.

Even so, Lawrence has written to Golding, a letter which he copied to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, alleging that Golding caused him reputational harm when he suggested that his company obtained an import licence for onions due to his connection to the JLP.

“During your recent contribution as Leader of the Opposition to the 2026/27 Budget Debate you dramatically highlighted the fact that you had obtained a copy of the customs declaration for an imported shipment of onions brought in by a ‘communications company’ run by a “JLP activist” who was a “former Member of Parliament,” Lawrence wrote.

“The clear innuendo suggests that the import permit was obtained corruptly because of my political affiliation and by a company with no agricultural/farming background to the detriment of local farmers. That segment of your presentation has been uploaded to various social media platforms by the People’s National Party including on its Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWB90SSjarl/?igsh=MmoxOWpteGRhbmNx),” said Lawrence.

The former MP outlined that his business, Runaway Bay Communication Limited (RBCC) is a group of companies offering a wide range of diversified services for over 30 years, including remittance services, courier services, telecommunication services, and was involved in the fast food business as well as farming, cold storage and food importation.

Lawrence further outlined that since 2016 he and his family have farmed in several locations across the island – near Darliston, Westmoreland; Spring Plains, Clarendon; New Pen in Western St Mary; and Miles End in North West Manchester. He attached photographs of himself, his wife and two sons planting potatoes and onions at these locations over the years as well as invoices for the purchase of onion seeds locally.

“We are willing to hand over our communication devices to verify/time-stamp these photos and there are social media posts as well …highlighting my commitment to food security for Jamaica,” he said.

“It should also be noted that our import permits have met all the Ministry of Agriculture’s guidelines and requirements annually since 2016,” Lawrence added.

He told Golding that his comments did not highlight any of this.

“Instead, your statement was carefully crafted to do maximum damage to my reputation and that of my family and our group of companies. And the confidentiality of one of our business transactions was breached in the name of cheap, petty politics.

“I am hereby demanding a full apology and retraction in Hansard/Parliament. And I invite you to repeat your comments outside of Parliament so that I can take the appropriate action,” said Lawrence.

He went on to state that this was “not the first time that officials of the People’s National Party have taken shots at me and my company”.

He pointed to an instance where his lawyers “had to intervene and send a cease-and-desist letter to the Party’s General Secretary, Dr Dayton Campbell in May 2025 for similar defamatory comments on two political platforms. And there is an ongoing court case on another matter regarding statements made in the past”.

“This needs to stop,” Lawrence said.

In his Budget presentation, Golding remarked that “This is not just bad policy, it is infected with nepotism”.

He then spoke about seeing the customs declaration for the importation of 1,300 bags of onion “brought in by a communications company owned by a JLP activist and former MP”.

The Opposition Leader went on to state that the system of granting import permits needs to be overhauled and put on a transparent footing.

Golding argued that priority must be given to importers that represent and support affected farmers, not politically-connected margin gatherers.

“If you get the privilege of making money out of imported food, those profits should be in the agricultural sector to help build it,” Golding insisted.