‘It was a really bad day for me’

Eastern Portland:

Embattled Port Antonio Mayor Paul Thompson is pushing back against claims questioning his mental competence, following an admittedly “confusing” performance on a radio talk show last week.

Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, the mayor, facing pressure, notably on several social media platforms, conceded that he blundered in his response to a question about equity in relation to how finances are distributed between Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillors and their People’s National Party (PNP) counterparts. He said his error came when he was seemingly at pains to explain the distribution ratio of 2:1 in favour of the opposition councillors.

Thompson, who became mayor of Port Antonio in 2016 after the JLP trounced the PNP in the local government elections of that year, winning seven of the nine Municipal Corporation seats in Portland (formerly a parish council), has come under increasing pressure from bloggers, social media enthusiasts, critics, and other detractors for his woeful explanation regarding equity.

However, according to Thompson, who sought to explain the reason for his blunder, the loss of one of his chief party workers coupled with grieving and being mentally distraught was the mitigating factor that may have crippled his concentration.

“It was really a bad day for me, and I was just coming from a grave digging when my phone rang,” Thompson told The Gleaner yesterday.

A sad moment

“One of my closely knitted friend and party worker had passed away, and we were coming from his grave digging, which was a sad moment for me. I admit that I blundered badly but only because of the mental stress that I was undergoing. I was seeking to explain to the host that the pattern that I was following was one that had been implemented by Wayne McKenzie of the PNP, who was my predecessor.

“Finances were being shared in the ratio of two to one, so when I became mayor, I simply adopted that principle. I was wrong in trying to explain the percentage of sharing, and I really messed up there. But I was unable to adequately explain to the host, and I just wasn’t focusing. This is just an isolated incident, and my mental competence should not be judged on that basis. What I was trying to say was that if the PNP got $100, the JLP would get $50, and that was the pattern that I followed,” Thompson concluded.

Thompson has had several distinguished professions, including that of a pre-trained teacher, a policeman for nine years, a trained registered general nurse at the University Hospital of the West Indies, a phlebotomist, medical manager at Heart Foundation in charge of the medical department for 12 years, and now councillor.

In the meantime, minority leader at the Portland Municipal Corporation, Dexter Rowland, who spoke with The Gleaner via telephone, has dismissed any notion that Thompson lacks intelligence and has come out in his defence while stating that there is no way that he (Thompson) should be labelled ‘a dunce’.

“I have always maintained that he engages in political victimisation; however, he is an honest man, kind-hearted, and a friendly individual,” said Rowland.

“Everybody makes mistakes, and I believe that something was definitely wrong on that day. He is above average as it relates to being intelligent, but him practise political victimisation. And dat is the problem that I have always mentioned. His mental capacity is there, and that should not be questioned as he handles himself well at meetings and other public functions,” Rowland added.

gareth.davis@gleanerjm.com