Golding rejects 'anywhere not safe to live, Comrades live there' comments
Published:Monday | October 24, 2022 | 1:55 PM
Opposition Leader Mark Golding has hit back at government MP Juliet Holness' assertion that anywhere that is "not safe to live, Comrades live there".
Holness, who was guest speaker at the ruling Jamaica Labour Party's Norbrook divisional meeting on Sunday, made the comment in a lament about how politics in Jamaica has been used to influence the selection of unfit places for human settlement.
But, in a Twitter post on Monday, Golding said the problem of vulnerable Jamaicans living in unsafe places is not limited to supporters of any political party.
"Mrs Holness knows this well, but is trying to deflect attention from the [Government's] recent depredations against the people," he added.
The comments from both MPs come in the middle of a firestorm over the demolition of unfinished houses on the outskirts of the Clifton community bordering the Greater Bernard Lodge Development in St Catherine.
The settlement was being established in St Catherine Southern, a constituency represented by Fitz Jackson of the opposition People's National Party.
Meanwhile in a statement the PNP said it "repudiates the totally repugnant and offensive comments made by Mrs Juliet Holness."
READ: 'Anywhere not safe to live, Comrades live there' - JLP's Juliet Holness
"Her statement not only offends PNP supporters but the sensibilities of all Jamaicans, many of whom settled in flood-prone areas out of desperation," it added.
The party said it was particularly disturbed that given her high office and her proximity to the Prime Minister, Holness would display such "hateful and acrimonious statements about Jamaicans over whom her husband presides".
It further labelled her comments "disrespectful, insensitive and reprehensible" in light of the housing crisis with which the country is grappling.
Approximately 20 per cent of Jamaica's population resides in squatter settlements.
PNP General Secretary, Dr Dayton Campbell, is demanding that Holness withdraw her comments and issue an apology to Jamaicans.
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