People's National Party (PNP) chairman Robert Pickersgill (right) makes a point during yesterday's press conference ahead of the party's 67th annual conference which begins tomorrow. Beside him is party general secretary Burchell Whiteman, at the PNP's Old Hope Road headquarters in St. Andrew. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE PEOPLE'S National Party (PNP) yesterday admitted it has failed to communicate the Government's poverty-alleviating achievements to the public.
The party's admission followed Tuesday's islandwide Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)-led protests against the jump in the cost of living.
Speaking yesterday at a press conference ahead of the PNP's 67th annual conference this weekend, party chairman Robert Pickersgill accepted that the PNP has been quiet about measures implemented to help the poor.
"One of the criticisms that have been successfully levelled against us is that we have not sold ourselves as we ought to have done," he said at the PNP's Old Hope Road headquarters in St. Andrew.
NO DETAILS
He was unable to offer details on the progress of face-to-face meetings Prime Minister P.J. Patterson initiated earlier in his tenure.
"It (communication) has not gone as well as it ought," Mr. Pickersgill said, attributing the onslaught of natural disaster for the fall-off of the party's message.
Meanwhile, the PNP has cancelled what should have been today's first day of its 67th annual conference. The conference will instead begin on Friday and continue through Sunday under the theme 'A Sound Foundation for A Secure Future'.
Mr. Pickersgill said that a special tribute to Mr. Patterson originally scheduled for this evening will instead be held during the public session on Sunday, to secure more participation from delegates.
