Dear Editor,

I cannot help but notice that the news media and the PNP have teamed up and are having a field day in respect of the Dudus and the Manatt, Phelps and Phillips affairs. It is as if there is no other news good enough to make the headlines anymore.

It is hoped that this matter will rival the Trafigura affair or even surpass it but I don’t think it will.

So far, from what we have seen in this recent case, no contract was signed by any government ministry with Manatt, Phelps and Phillips. No cheques have been drawn on any ministry or government account to that United States firm. No contract was signed by any government ministry with Attorney-at-law Harold Brady to act on behalf of the Government of Jamaica.

By the way, can the man leading the charge from the PNP in this matter, Dr Peter Phillips, say how many extradition requests came during the tenure of his party in government from February 1989 to September 2007, and how many were refused or questioned by the then ministers of justice and what were the names and addresses of those whose concerns were noted by them?

To the news media, the terms and adjectives being used daily in introducing this monotonous story to give it a dramatic flavour is now filled with boredom. Definitely too much attention is being wasted on this issue, under the guise of being news. Finally, do not let yourselves be viewed as mouthpieces for the PNP Opposition. They already have enough big-mouthed people.

Winston Maragh

Councillor, Rocky Point

Clarendon