No other option for the Prime Minister, says Dr Waul

“There was no other option for the PM but to act as he did to relieve Mr Warmington of his job.
 

“Mr Warmington’s statements were outrageous, corrupt and unlawful and I was fully committed with the people of Old Harbour South to demand that he be relieved of his job as Minister of Works,” he said after the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) issued a statement that Warmington had tendered his resignation as Works Minister in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.
 

The controversial St Catherine South Western Member of Parliament was captured on camera declaring his intentions to be partisan and deny Dr Kurt Waul, the People’s National Party (PNP) councillor-elect of the Old Harbour South Division, of state resources.
 

Dr Waul defeated the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP’s) Lloyd ‘Brass’ Grant in Monday’s local government election.
 

Addressing JLP supporters at his constituency office Warmington charged: "I'm the minister of works, I'm the member of parliament, no PNP councillor going spend my money,” before adding “‘Brass’ might not be councillor but he will spend every dime."

His comments spark outrage and widespread condemnation from the country’s main opposition party and civil society, all calling for his sacking.
 

The PNP characterized Warmington’s comments as “a new low in his history of gutter politics and tribalism” and that it “contradicts the principles of fair governance and insults taxpayers”.
 

Advocacy group Jamaicans for Justice says Warmington comments were “contemptible and repugnant” and an abuse of his ministerial office.
 

“Not only were the comments unbecoming, they also threaten the constitutional right to vote, violate the political code of conduct and the integrity expected of a leader. We cannot tolerate anything less than the immediate removal of Mr Warmington as a cabinet minister. His actions make him unworthy for public office,” the JFJ contends in a statement released to the press.  
 

Founder and former chair of the National Integrity Action (NIA) Professor Trevoe Munroe, says Warmington’s comment is a breach the Political Code of Conduct.
 

The JLP also distanced itself from the comments made by Warmington calling them “reprehensible”.
 

“At the core of our organisation we espouse the principles of equal rights and justice and any suggestion that the democratically elected Councillor will be victimised must be rebuffed. Mr Warmington’s comments are reprehensible and do not represent the view of the Jamaica Labour Party or its leadership,” said the governing party.
 

Warmington would issue an apology and withdrawal of his comments, but argued that his words were misinterpreted.
 

“I realise that my statements on funding for Members of Parliament and Councillors have been misunderstood in public discourse. It was never my intention to imply that a duly elected Councillor should be denied rightful funding for their municipal division. I want to clarify: my remarks were focused on the established practice that MPs direct funds for Constituencies, while Councillors direct funds from the Municipal Council. These are distinct and separate channels,” he said.

In clarifying his use of the term ‘my money’, he explained that “These funds, allocated by the Central Government and directed in part by MPs, belong to the Jamaican taxpayers. My reference to ‘my money’ was intended to describe these allocations that I, in my role as MP, help oversee. It should also be noted that as MP I do spend my personal resources on constituency matters.”
 

But with pressuring mounting on Holness, Warmington was summoned yesterday to a meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister at the end of which he tendered his resignation from the Cabinet.

Regarded as one of the best performing ministers in the Holness administration, Warmington’s penchant to let his tongue get the better of him has yet again proved his undoing.