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Gov’t victimised Bloomfield, Portlanders, says Phillips

Published:Wednesday | February 20, 2019 | 12:00 AM
BLOOMFIELD

PORT ANTONIO, Portland:

Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips has sought to frame the legacy of slain Eastern Portland Member of Parliament Dr Lynvale Bloomfield as a heroic struggle against government victimisation, arguing that the South Coast Highway project has taken on new legs since his death.

The Government has allocated $8.4 billion to the highway development for the 2019-20 fiscal year, and subcontracts are set to be put to tender this week. The project has been long delayed, reportedly because of strained negotiations on the terms of engineering company, China Harbour.

“Bloomfield advocated for many things, but in the last year, it was like there was a design to deny him the opportunity to see the things he advocated for become a reality,” Phillips, president of the People’s National Party, told a gathering at a vigil in Port Antonio Square for Bloomfield on Saturday evening.

“Now some of those very things, now that he has passed on, are being done in the hope that we will forget how they victimised him,”Phillips added.

He noted that Bloomfield’s last political act was a march from Fairy Hill to Port Antonio to demonstrate for the South Coast Highway to come into Portland to build the links between the northeastern parish and Kingston, which could result in opening up new tourism and other commercial possibilities.

CONTINUING HIS WORK

“Let us resolve to continue his struggle. First of all, we’ll have to get someone to continue the work that he (Bloomfield) was doing. And when we find that person, we must ensure of the election under the banner of the PNP, so that the struggle for land for the landless can continue.

“So that the fight for better education can continue, so that the effort to secure workers rights can continue, and so that we can build a Jamaica of the dreams of all our leaders and not just delivering prosperity for a few, “the PNP leader concluded.

The nude body of Bloomfield, a two-term MP, was found at his Passley Gardens, Portland, home shortly after 10 a.m. on February 2 by a helper and gardener, with multiple stab wounds.

Phillips said that the constituency is in mourning over the vicious act.

“The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for every purpose under heaven.

“A time to weep and a time to mourn; a time to laugh and a time to dance. Tonight, we come here to mourn the passing of our fallen Comrade and to celebrate the life of service that he gave to the people of Portland. We mourn the violent manner of his passing, and we commit ourselves that we will leave no stone unturned until his brutal killers are identified and brought to justice,” Phillips stated.