Golding backs new PNP MPs as Kingston mayor flags inherited KSMC debt

Opposition Leader Mark Golding has pushed back against former House Speaker Marisa Dalmar Phillips after she criticised opposition members’ conduct in Parliament. Addressing a People’s National Party divisional conference on Sunday in Admiral Town, Kingston, Golding said he is proud of a newer crop of politicians who he argued are helping hold the government to account. His remarks followed Phillips’s challenge to MPs who had resigned amid integrity commission findings and later returned to the House.

At the same event, Kingston Mayor and Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation chairman Andrew Swaby renewed criticism of predecessor Delroy Williams over inherited liabilities. Swaby said more than $400 million in outstanding bills were left when his administration took office, with $164 million still unpaid, some dating to 2021 or earlier. He said ongoing payments have slowed work on roads residents want repaired.

Works Minister Robert Morgan, responding to complaints from MPs and the Kingston mayor about road-repair funding, said councillors must make the most of available resources. He said Kingston and St. Andrew’s overall allocations rose more than 30% over two years, though road-repair spending did not rise at the same rate. Morgan also said a $100 million Mont Pelier road project in St. James, tied to Hurricane Melissa recovery and Jamaica Social Investment Fund support, has addressed the sections initially committed to.

PNP spokesman on land settlements and titling Luan Cousins said demolitions of occupied homes on crown lands in West Albion, St. Thomas, should receive greater consideration for displaced families and could affect relations with international lenders.

Police statistics show murders down 24% so far this year. Criminologist Dr. Jason McKay welcomed the trend but urged Jamaicans to remain cautious.

In Westmoreland, a 32-year-old municipal corporation worker was shot and hospitalised Sunday night after gunmen tried to rob his motorcycle on Straight Bogey Main Road. Security guard Adrien Robinson, 57, died after falling from a truck on Sheffield Main Road Saturday night. In Negril, Shadri McIntyre, 27, of Jericho, Hanover, was killed in a Monday crash on Norman Manley Boulevard; a female passenger remains hospitalised.

Tributes continued for MVP Track Club coach Steven Francis. In Falmouth, Trelawny, businessman Mark Cummings is rebuilding after a King Street fire destroyed Rich’s Bargain Store and Slots of Fun. Overseas, Typhoon-related storms in China killed at least 10 people, injured hundreds, and displaced tens of thousands.