JLP’s rural school bus accusations ‘confused’ and ‘desperate’, says Golding
Published:Friday | August 1, 2025 | 9:36 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Opposition Leader Mark Golding has criticised the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), calling them “confused”, “desperate” and “without credibility” after recent comments about the politicisation of the rural school buses, government-sponsored advertisements and economic growth.
Golding, who was at the end of a tour in Manchester North Eastern where the People’s National Party’s (PNP) prospective candidate Valenton Wint is facing off against the JLP’s Audrey Marks, said the ruling party is in a desperate position and its message cannot be taken seriously.
“A minister of transport has publicly owned buses going around Jamaica in a campaign full of people in green, ringing bell, and then he’s saying we mustn’t let the rural bus system be politicised,” said Golding in Hibernia Square, Manchester, Tuesday night.
His comments followed a statement released early Tuesday by Transport Minister Daryl Vaz, who insisted that the current rural school bus tour is aimed at sensitising Jamaicans about the functionality and safety of the buses and should not be politicised.
Videos have surfaced online of the buses touring sections of Jamaica with persons wearing green shirts and waving green flags out the windows of the buses. Green is the party colour of the ruling JLP.
The images have led to criticism that the buses are being used as part of the JLP’s campaign for re-election.
In a statement to the media on Tuesday, Vaz said that “invariably during the current climate, the buses have attracted attention and excitement from supporters of both major political parties who have toured the buses across various constituencies”.
Golding noted that the statement fell flat and questioned Vaz’s objective.
“Who is he trying to fool? He sounds very, very confused,” he said.
Further, he trashed a response from Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie who denied that the Government was using state resources to campaign.
“Every night we see the advertisements being run by public bodies on TV promoting speeches made by JLP ministers bigging up themselves and their Government. So how can you try to tell the Jamaican people that public resources are not being used to promote the Government – politically, the Jamaica Labour Party government,” the Opposition leader said.
He criticised Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness who, he said, publicly announced that he intends to remove the obstacles to economic growth.
Golding said that, for close to 10 years, Holness has been the minister in charge of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and that it has been a “colossal failure”.
He said the country has not generated any appreciable economic growth under Holness’ management.
“How can you now be talking about you are going to be removing obstacles to growth when you have such a dismal track record in managing the country’s growth. Nobody believes him. He has no credibility whatsoever to be talking about removing obstacles to growth.
“He cannot do it. He doesn’t have the vision for it. He doesn’t have the technical skills for it. He doesn’t have the organisational structure of government to make it happen. Time come for change,” the PNP president asserted.
Holness, who was speaking at J. Wray and Nephew’s 200th anniversary celebration recently, said his Government was intensifying efforts to eliminate growth barriers and enhance investor confidence to make Jamaica the region’s most business-friendly nation. He noted initiatives that included cutting red tape, streamlining approvals, and reducing corporate taxes for manufacturers. He also emphasised energy cost reduction through bold reforms by 2027.
However Golding claimed that every renewable energy project that was introduced for the first eight years of Holness’ administration was negotiated and brought to Jamaica by the PNP.
He said it was the Portia Simpson Miller-led Government that put the legal framework in place to cause investments to be made, pointing to spokesperson on energy, Phillip Paulwell, who he said has a track record of achieving significant change and progressive policies.
“The prime minister after 10 years can’t be telling us anything about energy because the light bill, when you have to pay it, the price per kilowatt hour under this Government’s watch is nearly 40 cents and we left it at 23 cents. So he can’t tell anybody in Jamaica that they have energy solutions. They have been a colossal failure in the area of energy… . If we stay with them, wi corner dark,” said Golding.