PM accuses opposition of sowing discord over relief efforts

 

Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness has accused the parliamentary opposition of sowing division and seeking to discredit the government over the distribution of relief aid to residents and ravaged communities. 

 

This follows accusations from the parliamentary opposition that their Members of Parliament whose constituencies were destroyed in the storm have been left out of the process to distribute government relief to their constituents. 

 

Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Holness instead accused the opposition of distributing aid in a biased fashion in constituencies controlled by their MPs.

 

Dr. Holness also dismissed growing allegations of bias and mismanagement on the part of government agencies in the distribution of relief aid to needy residents.

 

"We have, Madam Speaker, made every attempt to be fair in how we have distributed the public's resources - not our resources - the public resources. And to answer the member, I have given a directive to the Minister of Labour, to the Minister of Local Government and to ODPEM, that they must release all public aid that has been given to every Member of Parliament in this country, so that the unfair and malicious attempt to cast the government in an unfair light can be dispelled by facts," he insisted. 

 

Dr. Holness said the the information would be made available by the next sitting of the House to put an end to what he called the "deliberate, malicious attempt to destroy the reputation of the government".