Citing Government’s refusal to listen to the cries of the Jamaican people, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding said Sunday that his party would lead an islandwide protest Monday against recent price hikes.
Mr. Golding told The Gleaner that the decision to take to the streets came after an emergency meeting of its Central Executive yesterday at the Stony Hill HEART Academy.
The meeting ended days of speculation on whether the Jamaica Labour Party would stage a wide-scale protest against hikes in water, electricity, transport and telephone rates. The JLP claims that the new rates will impact severely on poor Jamaicans.
“We think the Government has gone deaf, we just don’t think they are listening to the people,” Mr. Golding told The Gleaner after Sunday’s meeting. “This is one way to get them to listen.”
According to Mr. Golding, the protests will take the form of marches in the 14 parishes and will be coordinated by the party’s Members of Parliament, parish councillors and caretakers. He stressed that strict orders have been given to keep the demonstrations peaceful and legal.
“There should be no cutting down of trees, no blocking of roads … It’s going to be peaceful,” he said.
Last week, Information Minister Burchell Whiteman expressed concern over the rumoured JLP protests. He said that with the new school year starting this week, such action would be untimely and possibly be as unstable as the March 1999 gas riots that shut down parts of the country for three days.
But the Opposition Leader stated that tomorrow’s protest would not be as devastating.
“I don’t want to make any comparisons (with the gas riots). We have put all our officers in place and they will ensure that the people will adhere to the law,” Mr. Golding said.
Since the start of the year, Government has announced increases in water, electricity, transport and landline telephone rates. Three of those announcements came in August.
First, Transport Minister Robert Pickersgill announced that commuters on Jamaica Urban Transit Company buses would pay $50, up from $30.
The Office of Utilities Regulations also announced a total of a four per cent increase on electricity rates to help the Jamaica Public Service compensate for inflation and losses it said it incurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.
Following the OUR-granted increases, minor demonstrations took place at JPS outlets across the country, including Kingston and Montego Bay, triggering suspicion that bigger protests were imminent.
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