PattersonThe Office of the Prime Minister in Jamaica has reacted angrily to Grenada Opposition Leader, Michael Baptiste's statement in which he accused Prime Minister P.J. Patterson of double standards.
A press release yesterday, accompanied by the signature of Ralston Smith, communications advisor to the Prime Minister, said that the Grenadian Opposition Leader's accusation was either the result of "deliberate ignorance or the reflection of a bewildered mind".
Mr. Baptiste charged that Mr. Patterson and Grenada's Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell were making a mockery of the criminal justice system.
Mr. Patterson was criticised specifically over the death of accused killer Nakia "Bunny Lee" Broderick, who was murdered while he was a patient at the Kingston Public Hospital last Wednesday, and Mr. Patterson's efforts to have condemned murderer, Jamaican born Phyllis Coard sent overseas for medical treatment.
Prime Minister Patterson wrote to his Grenadian counterpart, asking that she be allowed to travel to Australia for medical treatment. The release was granted on those grounds.
Mr. Baptiste said Mr. Patterson practised double standard in seeking the interest of one person over the other.
However Mr. Smith, in the release, stated that the facts were completely different. He said that Mrs. Coard was allowed by the Grenadian authorities to leave Grenada for a specific period to seek medical attention not available in that country. She has been advised by medical team to undergo further medical attention and has opted for Australia.
Mr. Smith said that in the case of Mr. Broderick, he was a murder suspect who required medical attention which was readily available at the hospital.
Mr. Smith said it was "deplorable that anyone should seek to make cheap political advantage out of the tragedy at the Kingston Public Hospital and to couple that with the unfortunate health circumstance of Mrs. Coard."
Mr. Smith charged that it was an unwarranted attack on the Prime Minister, and could not understand why it was afforded such prominence by sections of the media.
