Dear Editor,

Jamaica is navigating a season of intense global and local transition. Situated as we are in the choppy waters of the Caribbean Sea, our nation is constantly exposed to both external and internal shocks. Over the last decade we have had to weather economic instability, a global pandemic, and back-to-back climate disasters — Hurricane Beryl and Hurricane Melissa.

Navigating these rough waters demands a specific type of leadership. It requires a master builder who understands structural resilience and a steady captain at the wheel who is not easily moved by political winds. True statesmanship demands soberness, a cool head, and a commitment to institutional accountability.

Unfortunately, what we are currently witnessing from the Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding is the exact opposite. His recent calculated walkout of Parliament over an untabled Integrity Commission report was not a noble act of protest, it was an intemperate, reactive temper tantrum. It reflects an unfortunate habit of treating the Standing Orders of the House and the Speaker, Juliet Holness, with blatant disrespect.

Having abdicated its role to present viable solutions for Jamaica’s infrastructure and economic growth, the Opposition seems to have outsourced its entire political strategy to character assassination. For years it has run an unrelenting crusade to weaponise the Integrity Commission to paint the prime minister as corrupt.

But the truth is stubborn. The Supreme Court of Jamaica recently delivered a decisive ruling that exposed this political witch-hunt. Seeking a judicial review is a fundamental constitutional right available to every citizen to ensure fair play. Let us lay the unassailable, cold facts on the table: After years of exhaustive auditing and over a decade of voluminous financial disclosures, not a single thread of evidence exists to show that Prime Minister Andrew Holness has ever used a single cent of public funds for personal enrichment: Not one dollar! Not one cent! His record of financial integrity remains clean.

Desperate to erase the Government’s achievements, the Opposition has even resorted to weaponising local grief. Following the tragic civilian shooting of Latoya “Buju” Bulgin in Granville, St James, it twisted the prime minister’s paternal warning for young men to “put down the guns”. That warning was aimed squarely at violent criminals holding our communities hostage. To exploit a deeply regrettable local tragedy for cheap political gain is a shameless distortion.

True leaders do not exploit tragedy, they build systems to handle it. The moment the Granville incident occurred, our State infrastructure worked exactly as designed. The officer involved was immediately interdicted, and independent oversight through Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) was launched transparently.

The Opposition appears to be trying to use this painful event to blind Jamaicans to a historic security transformation. The hard facts show that under this Administration’s targeted strategies, murders have plummeted to a five-year low, with January 2026 recording a historic 55 per cent year-on-year reduction — the lowest single-month homicide total since modern record-keeping began in 2001.

The choice facing Jamaica is clear: We can choose reckless, emotional reactions that offer sound bites but no solutions or we can choose structural discipline, maturity, and proven resilience.

While the Opposition stands in the media mud trying to tear down a leader’s name, ‘Captain’ Holness remains focused on the horizon — securing the national foundation, protecting our farmers from climate shocks, and pumping grant funding directly into community corner shops.

Jamaica has sacrificed too much to hand the wheel over to an intemperate navigator. The foundation holds, the ship remains steady, and we must keep moving Jamaica steadily forward.

Lavie Lujah

Ontario, Canada

lavie4muzic@gmail.com