JLP yet to make decision on seats held by George Wright, Kim Brown Lawrence

The ruling Jamaica Labour Party ((JLP) is yet to state who will run in the seats now occupied by controversial Member of Parliament George Wright and Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence, who remains embroiled in the fraud case at the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU).

JLP general secretary, Dr Horace Chang, during a press conference on Tuesday at the party's Belmont Road headquarters, said the JLP has settled the leadership issues in all constituencies.

However, no mention was made of a future role for either of the two.

According to Chang, Wright, who contested the 2020 election on a JLP ticket, has assumed the position as an Independent candidate and the party's constituency leadership is being run by the deputy chairman.

“George Wright is an Independent member. All the councils are settled in there (Westmoreland Central). We have a vice chairman to run the constituency. There is no settling on who will run the constituency as the general election is two years away,” said Chang.

“There is effective leadership in Central Westmoreland,” Chang continued.

Wright was thrown into the spotlight in 2021 after a video emerged showing a man battering a woman with a stool. He was questioned in relation to the matter, but the police later dropped the case.

He was dropped from the Government's parliamentary caucus in 2021, and assumed the position as an independent member of the House.

Last year, eyebrows were raised in the House of Representatives when Wright, who sits on the Opposition benches, was given support by government MPs Ann-Marie Vaz and Tovia Hamilton as he made his contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate.

In the meantime, Brown Lawrence, the councillor for the Brown's Town division in St Ann, remains under investigation by the Integrity Commission following the scandal at the CMU.

Addressing the Brown Lawrence situation, Chang said: “She is an elected councillor. She has not been subjected to a selection or change, but we will monitor her work."

When asked if that meant she would again run on the party's ticket, he said: “We have a constitutionally elected Councillor, and if we call it tomorrow morning we could (change) but if we call it the day after I don't know.”

It was alleged that Brown Lawrence had accepted funds and fixed roads with money allegedly channelled from the CMU. She was charged alongside former Education Minister Ruel Reid; CMU President Fritz Pinnock; Reid's wife, Sharen; and their daughter, Sharelle.

- Erica Virtue

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