Dear Editor,
When and will Andrew Holness declare his assets as promised?
Thanks to a few folks who did not back off and insisted that this opulence was worth questioning, and not in keeping with the “bitter medicine” he promised the nation, Andrew Holness seems to have eventually relented. At a meeting in St Andrew West Rural, on Sunday, Andrew Holness promised that he would declare his assets for public scrutiny.
I should also state that the arm’s length approach journalists have been taking in investigating this topic has been a disappointment, in my humble view.
Why did it have to take repeated calls from the “man in the street” and from political platforms for this to happen. Holness is an elected official and the rules of the Corruption Prevention Act apply to him and all others so elected.
Repeatedly, we hear members of civil society and the media speak to the need for openness and accountability, but this is not enough. How then do we clean up our politics and governance if investigative journalism is limited to digging down a few? There should be no sacred cows in the public sphere.
A $300-million mansion will raise eyebrows and should not be dismissed as political, bad mind, or none of the public’s business.
I have read no article, column or letter that truly examines the issue of Andrew Holness’s house. For example, what would be Holness’s monthly mortgage for such a property if the Holnesses took a 25-year mortgage at a 9.4% interest rate, with a 10 per cent downpayment? They would be paying a monthly mortgage in the ballpark of $1.9 million to $2.3 million. Taking into full account that the Leader of the Opposition makes only $289,477.58 monthly, Mrs Holness would have to make up the shortfall each month.
We hope he keeps his promise and declares his assets sooner than later. I note that neither a specific time nor time frame was given, so we await the revelation.
Garth Crawford
garth_crawford@ymail.com
When and will Andrew Holness declare his assets as promised?
Thanks to a few folks who did not back off and insisted that this opulence was worth questioning, and not in keeping with the “bitter medicine” he promised the nation, Andrew Holness seems to have eventually relented. At a meeting in St Andrew West Rural, on Sunday, Andrew Holness promised that he would declare his assets for public scrutiny.
I should also state that the arm’s length approach journalists have been taking in investigating this topic has been a disappointment, in my humble view.
Why did it have to take repeated calls from the “man in the street” and from political platforms for this to happen. Holness is an elected official and the rules of the Corruption Prevention Act apply to him and all others so elected.
Repeatedly, we hear members of civil society and the media speak to the need for openness and accountability, but this is not enough. How then do we clean up our politics and governance if investigative journalism is limited to digging down a few? There should be no sacred cows in the public sphere.
A $300-million mansion will raise eyebrows and should not be dismissed as political, bad mind, or none of the public’s business.
I have read no article, column or letter that truly examines the issue of Andrew Holness’s house. For example, what would be Holness’s monthly mortgage for such a property if the Holnesses took a 25-year mortgage at a 9.4% interest rate, with a 10 per cent downpayment? They would be paying a monthly mortgage in the ballpark of $1.9 million to $2.3 million. Taking into full account that the Leader of the Opposition makes only $289,477.58 monthly, Mrs Holness would have to make up the shortfall each month.
We hope he keeps his promise and declares his assets sooner than later. I note that neither a specific time nor time frame was given, so we await the revelation.
Garth Crawford
garth_crawford@ymail.com