Laurel R. Smith J.P Esq.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has pushed back against Opposition Leader Mark Golding over claims that gas is more expensive than water, arguing that cheaper options exist, including from the state-owned National Water Commission.

Politics in Jamaica hit different 😭

The Leader of the Opposition only talks, many times nonsense, and takes home J$27 million. In the last term, the Leader of the Opposition cost taxpayers more than the Prime Minister. The Opposition Spokesman on Finance stood in this House and said the Opposition has no problem with the pay increase. A few days later, the PNP General Secretary and the Leader of the Opposition put out a release, saying they, “strongly object to the salary increase for Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament”. Yet, none of them with their self-righteous objection declined to take their salary increase. They were the first ones calling Parliament to find out the amount of their retroactive pay.

If we are to understand many of the challenges Jamaica faces today, we must honestly reflect on the policy decisions made in the 1990s by the People’s National Party, which led to the Financial Sector Adjustment Company crisis. When the financial sector collapsed, the government at the time created FINSAC to bail out failing institutions, and that intervention cost the country approximately 42 percent of our entire economy. As a result, Jamaica’s national debt rose dramatically, from about 72 percent of GDP to nearly 130 percent within a few years. At one point, almost 70 percent of the taxes collected by the government had to be used simply to pay interest on that debt. This meant there was very little money left to maintain roads, repair hospitals, build schools, or invest in the infrastructure our people depend on every day. For many years, the country had to focus on stabilizing the economy and restoring fiscal discipline so that we could rebuild our financial strength. My commitment is to ensure that Jamaica never returns to those kinds of policy decisions that placed such a heavy burden on our people and our economy.