Desmond McKenzie defends Jamaica-US third country nationals MOU amid public backlash

Another senior figure in the Jamaica Labour Party administration has come forward to defend the Government’s decision to enter a memorandum of understanding with the United States that would allow third country nationals to come to Jamaica.

Desmond McKenzie, a senior Cabinet minister, said the administration would never accept an arrangement that would harm Jamaicans. He attributed much of the misunderstanding and distrust surrounding the deal to commentary spreading on social media, where opposition to the pact has been vocal.

McKenzie made the remarks during a ceremony to hand over four new units to the National Solid Waste Management Authority. The presentation takes to 130 the number of trucks supplied to the agency over the past 10 years. The vehicles will also support ongoing cleanup work in areas still affected by Melissa last year. All four units will be distributed across the agency’s regional divisions, with one assigned to each region.

Before addressing the policy dispute, McKenzie launched a broad attack on how social media is used in Jamaica. "There's a thing that we call social media. Which for me is the worst thing that could ever have been invented by man," he said. He argued that even people who ought to know better are using their platforms maliciously, turning a tool meant to advance information and technology into what he called "a weapon of mass destruction of propaganda and lies."

"We are in Jamaica is suffering from this serious cancer," McKenzie continued. "It is being used to destroy families, people's character, and then it is used in such a vulgar way that even persons who are far far brighter than me with university degrees, lawyers, doctors, professors, even ministers of religion believe the propaganda."

On the MOU itself, he insisted every action taken by the Government is guided by the interest of the Jamaican people. "This government will never sacrifice the freedom and the democracy of its people. But you're a part of a wide global world," he said.

Turning back to the waste-management handover, McKenzie dismissed critics who questioned the scale of the delivery. "All these trucks will be provided to the four regions. Each region will have one. And then the critics will say, 'So, only four?' One one cocoa full basket."