Tavares-Finson slams PJ Patterson, PNP’s rhetoric re Bolt, SSL fraud

President of the Senate, Tom Tavares-Finson, has launched a scathing attack on former Prime Minister PJ Patterson for invoking the name of iconic sprinter Usain Bolt in his comments on the Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) fraud scandal.

"Patterson and the PNP's (People's National Party's) inappropriate move to name-drop Usain Bolt in their misleading political rhetoric is unfortunate, and betrays their increasingly callous desperation," declared Tavares-Finson in an audio statement posted by the JLP on X (formerly Twitter) late last Friday.

"Usain deserves better than having his name used in a vulgar manner for political gain," the senator insisted.

During his presentation at a PNP's Outreach Commission's Region 3 seminar dubbed, 'Let's set the Record Straight - lest we forget', at Summit House in St Andrew on Thursday, Patterson said he did not believe that Jean-Ann Panton, a former SSL employee, could have been the sole perpetrator of the fraud scheme that has unfolded at the entity.

He also shot back at the Government and critics who he claimed want the SSL matter to be treated as "national secrecy", while defending the parliamentary Opposition's right to comment on the matter.

Asked Patterson: "How could any Government in their right senses possibly think that the failure of a licensed institution to repay 200 investors whose money has vanished, could become an issue of national secrecy?"

But Tavares-Finson accused the former PNP leader of attempting to blame the governing JLP for the fraud at SSL.

"Mr Patterson's comments on the SSL issue and his attempts to ascribe political blame to the current Administration for fraud at the entity, is unbecoming, misleading, and represents a new low for (the) ex-prime minister," the Senate president asserted.

He said Patterson failed to note various media publications which cited documents indicating that "many of the people impacted by the fraud at SSL, including the iconic Usain Bolt, had a substantial portion of their investments fleeced in 2012 and 2013 when the People's National Party was in Government.

"This took place while the ex-PNP Administration was being warned by the FSC (Financial Services Commission) about misconduct at the entity, yet no effective measures were put in place to protect the investors," Tavares-Finson suggested.

He claimed, further, that Patterson's entire narrative concerning the SSL issue and his failure to properly address the financial sector meltdown of the 1990s, dubbed FINSAC, have "led many Jamaicans to conclude that he positioned himself at the forefront of the line when the ability to be shameless was being apportioned."

Said Tavares-Finson: "Quite frankly, Mr Patterson should adopt a contrite posture, clothe himself in the proverbial sack cloth and ashes, and tell the Jamaican people sorry for his PNP's 18 missing years which set Jamaica back by decades in a number of key areas of national life."

Tavares-Finson also lambasted Patterson for not using his presentation to apologise for "his (Patterson’s) Administration’s reckless FINSAC policies”.

In conclusion, Tavares-Finson sought to reaffirm the commitment of the JLP to the country's economic recovery.

"We will not be distracted as we continue to lead the recovery in the interest of Jamaica, land we love," he stated.