Devon Dick

Pastor Daren Larmond said I was too partisan, having ignored the PNP's faults and wondered what the PNP promised me. He then stated that it would be difficult to listen to me preach (Oct 10).

When Horace Dalley was a minister of labour I wrote an article entitled 'Horace Dalley should resign'. I argued that he misled the Parliament in pretending to be offering more to our minimum wage earners than he did. What was Minister Dalley's response? He said to me one Sunday, "see you call for me to resign and I am at your church."

In addition, Ronnie Thwaites, PNP MP interviewed me on Independent Talk and we had an intelligent discussio he thought I was too harsh on Dalley. The only other response to the article came from Gerrard McDaniel, then public relations manager in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. He said that the resignation of a public official should be based on how he or she handles the portfolio obligations. He then ended his letter by saying, "Rev. Dick, I commend you once again for your passionate devotion to the betterment of the Jamaican worker, and I wish you all the best personally and professionally." What a difference to Pastor Larmond who asked what the PNP had promised me. He did not ask the donors of millions of dollars to the campaigns of the PNP and JLP, what they were promised why they gave so much money?

Worrying problem

Pastor Larmond, I have written approximately 16 years of weekly columns. The first minister I asked to resign was Philip Paulwell. Larmond, do you feel that had the PNP ministers whom I had asked to resign over the years had done so, that it would have been better for them, their party and the country?

The worrying problem for Larmond is that, while columnists, editorials and the private sector saw no evil in GraceKennedy paying part salary for Don Wehby, mine was the lone voice calling on him to resign from Grace. And he did resign!

On Friday, a letter was delivered to Boulevard Baptist Church, which read, "have you not heard any member of the last government lying ... and I would be very glad when the day comes when gunmen and criminals start targeting people like you instead of murdering innocent four-month-old babies." A couple weeks ago, I read Lloyd B. Smith in the Daily Observer, claiming that there were some JLP persons who were aggressive toward him and his writings. He was a former JLP candidate and he is being treated that way, what can I expect?

It is said that the Honourable Bruce Golding promised a Cabinet of 11 but gave us 18. Golding did not say he could not recall making that promise, neither did he deny making that promise; instead he just ignored it and defended his new action. A JLP person of Cabinet rank said at a gathering, recently, that when he got wind of the tape he advised Shaw what to say, but you can bet your last dollar that he did not take the advice. Shaw would have been better off following his leader.

The issue is not about breaking a promise, it is about DENYING making a promise, which was made. I have never heard any politician anywhere in the world do that to an important group of persons. How do you expect the nurses to feel when they were made out to be liars only to find out that they were speaking the truth?