PNP Government the worst in region, says Seaga

JLP leader Edward Seaga (centre) making his way to the nomination centre in West Kingston on Monday. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer

BUOYED BY the official return of Bruce Golding to the ranks of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Opposition Leader Edward Seaga last Thursday took the party's campaign to West Central St. Catherine.

There he toured extensively and met supporters of the party and residents in general, before culminating the day's activities with a packed constituency meeting at Brown's Hall.

Mr. Seaga told the meeting that the People's National Party (PNP) had betrayed the people by promising to put them first but, in fact, putting the party first.

He said that the PNP was the most corrupt Government in the entire region, Jamaica has the third worst debt burden in the world and the worst performing economy in the free world.

He questioned what record could the PNP speak about in terms of solid achievements and suggested that they should be ashamed to face the people. He said that the levels of desperation and degradation he had encountered during the afternoon tour, could not be allowed to continue much longer and it was time for the people to register their dissatisfaction with the performance of the government.

The JLP leader said the woes of both the young and old were evident in the areas toured, which were reflective of the country in general, and the situation was so bad that the electorate would not be fooled this time around, with empty promises from the governing PNP.

"The JLP is the party for the young people, the only party with the young people's interest at heart," said Mr. Seaga, outlining that the JLP's commitment and plans for the youth were clearly outlined in its manifesto.

He said quality education had to be the main plank of any meaningful development plan for the country, hence the JLP had also outlined its bold plans for that portfolio in the manifesto.

"We are for quality education for everyone, that when the child goes to school and gets the same quality of learning, when exam time comes, every child has a chance to pass exam, so when they leave school, they are not going to join the poverty line," said Mr. Seaga.

The Opposition Leader also reiterated the JLP's plans to assist 450,000 poor and elderly persons across the country with free medical care. Likewise, he said the party would be tackling the general squalor within the slums and ghetto areas, under its Shack Attack Programme, which is to replace squalid living conditions with decent housing arrangements.

Mr. Seaga then turned his attention to the farming community, which he said had been reeling from serious difficulties in every crop area. That, he said, "had never happened before in our history". He said one of the problems was that farmers could not afford to make the levels of investments needed to improve their farms, because interest rates were too high. He said the JLP would be reducing interest rates to the farmers.

The Opposition Leader said the JLP was for the poor, not against the poor and had developed a plan called 'The Helping Hand,' to assist persons who had fallen into grave misfortune through tragedies, which required things like the burial of loved ones or help with shelter after a fire, along with those who had suffered from natural disasters, which often left people without the basic necessities to maintain a decent life.

"The Labour Party is the party of the poor," declared Mr. Seaga. "The People's National Party said they were putting people first, but they ended up putting themselves first. Never before in the history of Jamaica has there been such a corrupt government. Corruption is a second way of life to them. They are the most corrupt government in the entire region. They have the third worst crime rate in the entire world, Jamaica is known as one of the murder capitals. We have the third worst debt in the entire world and we have the worst economy in the entire free world," said Mr. Seaga.

"What a record, and you talk about solid achievements. They should be ashamed to face the people. That kind of record is a record of failure the likes of which we have not seen in our history and we are going to put an end to it now," he declared.