JAMAICA | Golding refutes Holness, PNP excluded from vaccination programme

KINGSTON, Jamaica, October 16, 2021: Peoples National Party President Mark J. Golding says contrary to claims by Prime Minister Holness, he has been excluded from the national vaccination programme.

Addressing the private session of the PNP’s 83rd Annual Conference, the PNP President refuted Holness' social media post notiing that “I have been calling for the Disaster Risk Management Council to be used as a vehicle for making the major decisions related to the country’s management of the Covid-19 crisis. I have been calling for the council to meet, but those calls have gone unanswered."

Golding said "The PM wrote to me on the 1st of September saying that he wanted me to be a part of a national vaccination effort and that his office would provide further details; however, those details have not been provided. The PM has effectively rolled out this campaign with a national road programme as a JLP campaign, and I and the other opposition MP’s have been excluded from that process.” 

Mr Golding said his participation in vaccination blitzes has been limited to the blitz he arranged in his own constituency, and on invitation from neighbouring MP of SW St Andrew, Dr Angela Brown Burke. Golding indicated that he remains open to participating in the national interest, and reiterated that his Party strongly supports vaccination and encourages any citizen who is able, to be inoculated. 

The People’s National Party kicked off its 83rd conference at the CPTC studio. Delegates were invited to join via Zoom in keeping with COVID-19 protocols. It is the Party’s first virtual conference in its 83 year history and so far it has been technically smooth with comrades participating actively via the Zoom platform. 

The President Mr. Mark J. Golding and the four Vice Presidential candidates Norman Scott, Richard Azan, Ian Hayles and Eugene Kelley were uncontested and duly elected. Acting Chairman Mr. Horace Dalley shared opening remarks and set the tone for a successful conference which is guided by the theme PNP Strong! 

Comrades have been assigned to breakout sessions to engage in an interactive exercise designed by Maxine Henry-Wilson and the Unity Committee to foster unity and comradeship at all levels of the party. 

Tomorrow, the private session of the conference will end at 1 P.M. and a public session will begin at 1:30 P.M. The session will be aired live on TVJ and the Party’s YouTube and Facebook pages @PNPJamaica. The public is invited to participate.

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