CHAIRMAN of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP’s) election public relations committee Matthew Samuda yesterday ripped into the Opposition People’s National Party’s (PNP’s) manifesto, calling it an “outlandish” document “not worth the paper it was printed on”.

Samuda, who was speaking to Top of the Morning host Richard “Richie B” Burgess on The Edge 105 FM — the Jamaica Observer‘s sister media company — said while the JLP’s widely anticipated manifesto is being fine-tuned, he has had an opportunity to review the Opposition’s, most of which is unrealistic or amount to repetitive policies and plans.

“We’ve seen some outlandish things that have been published so far and we’ve seen some things that already exist in Government some even that would have existed before us,” said Samuda, who is currently a minister without portfolio in the security ministry.

He said the PNP’s plan to build a monument at National Heroes’ Park to honour members of the security forces is an initiative already in the works, announced by former Minister of National Security Robert Montague in 2018. He said the JLP’s Administration is nearing completion of the design phase.

The plan, he said, to provide insurance for the security forces listed in the PNP’s manifesto is already being carried out by the JLP as active negotiations are underway with insurance companies and the police high command. He also added that the budgetary allocations already exist.

“So it’s a mixed bag that I’ve seen from the other side of things that already exist and things that are outlandish,” said Samuda.

He further rubbished the PNP’s commitment to providing some 100,000 housing units if it forms the next Government after the September 3 General Election, claiming that the party was unable to come up with more than 8,000 houses in its last term — ignoring austerity measures brought on by the International Monetary Fund’s economic reform programme.

He said the PNP has failed to outline where the material or labour would come from to fulfil such a commitment.

“We have built over 20,000 houses. We have what you call shovel-ready projects that would allow us to ambitiously go for about 70,000 to 80,000 homes and we will commit to the exact number in the next couple days in our manifesto. But that’s something that’s believable by the Jamaican public because we’ve already said when we were in Opposition the last time we said we know we can get 20,000 houses. Promise made; promise delivered,” he stated.

“I think the Jamaican people will rationally look at what is said and say, ‘Well, you know, that sounds good but how is this going to be paid for? How is this measure going to be done? What is really the issue?’” he mentioned.

At the same time, the former senator accused the PNP of allegedly copying its 2011 commitment of removing The Queen as head of state verbatim from that manifesto and pasting it into its current manifesto, noting that it was a promise the Administration failed to keep.

He said even as the party again recommits to doing away with the monarchy, it has not said what legal process it will engage and the cost.

“Whereas I support that idea, there still has to be a reasonable plan and that plan also has to be based on the credibility that your party would have,” he insisted, arguing that the manifesto is not worth the paper it has been produced on.

Meanwhile, he said the JLP intends to show the electorate why the Administration made the decisions it did and that they are deserving of having that conversation with the party.

— Kimone Francis