(Jamaica Observer) Generation 2000 (G2K), the youth affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), has described the decision of the former president of the Senate, Rev Stanley Redwood to resign and migrate to Canada as “cowardice”.
“It must come as a complete and utter shock to Madam Prime Minister and the Government that she leads, that the man she appointed as president of the Upper House just packed his bags to go to another country that has already achieved developed country status,” said Alando Terrelonge, G2K legal advisor.
Terrelonge said the resignation “has killed the spirits of many Jamaicans” and sent the wrong message to the wider population.
“It is a cause for great concern that Redwood would run faster than the many university graduates and civil servants, who have similar options, but who instead make the sacrifice to fight for the Jamaica we all believe in,” he suggested.
Terrelonge and G2K president, Floyd O’Brian Green spoke on the resignation and several other national issues at a G2K press conference last week where group members described the move by the senator as “cowardice” and demanded that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller make a public address about the resignation, which comes 16 months after Redwood took over the chair with the change of Government in January 2012.
The group members also used the occasion to criticise Lisa Hanna, the minister of youth and culture, saying they had found her wanting where a number of youth issues were concerned.
Noting that May was reserved for the celebration of Child Month, Rhoda Crawford, another G2K member, characterised the month as “woefully lacking in substantive action to address the plight of the nation’s children, especially those in state care”.
“It appears that it is not only the minister of national security who is waiting for divine intervention. To date we have seen no substantial steps taken to remove the girls who are currently at the Fort Augusta Adult Correctional facility, several of them being there because they are deemed uncontrollable. The minister appears more content to set up committees and working groups to study areas that have been extensively studied and solutions already put forward,” said Crawford.
The young politicians noted that the Windsor Home for Girls remained unoccupied and called upon the minister to take steps immediately to have the home made secure and move the girls to that institution.
G2K at the same time called on the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) to update the country on whether the Cabinet had complied with the lawful requisition for information with respect to several major projects including the North South link to Highway 2000 and the developments of the Gordon Cay Container Transhipment Hub.
“The organisation notes that it has been over two months since the court dismissed the application of the minister of transport and works to review the powers of the Contractor General. However, to date there has been no indication from the OCG as to whether the Cabinet has indeed complied and provided the requisite information, or the steps that he plans to take to ensure that the interest of the public is protected in that regard,” said O’Brian Green.
