Kingston,
Jamaica. August 29, 2020. More than 20
questions exploring more than a dozen topical issues were on Saturday
evening put to the leaders of the Jamaica Labour Party, JLP, Andrew
Holness and the People’s National Party, Dr. Peter Phillips in the
third and final debate of the 2020 General Election series organized
by the Jamaica Debates Commission, JDC in Kingston Jamaica.

The
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a central focal point in the
debate, featuring in a significant number of questions and answers.
In fact, both leaders at the end of the debate, at the invitation of
the JDC spoke to the nation about it.

The
leaders were at one in calling on Jamaicans to be responsible and
take the recommended public health precautions on election day and
always to help the country beat the pandemic.

Issues
on COVID-19 featured from both questioners, Dionne Jackson Miller of
the RJR Gleaner Communications Group and George Davis the President
of the Press Association of Jamaica. There were also questions
raised on the past and future use of States of Emergency (SOEs)
education, accountability in government, climate change matters of
the economy, the constitution, a digital economy, crime and violence,
reform of the police force and even approaches to stemming brain
drain for the country.

There
were 19 direct questions, three follow up questions and two
questions, asked one each of their opponent.

Moderator
Dervan Malcolm of Power 106 Radio was tested in keeping the debaters
to time, in spite of them having a visible digital clock on which
they would have seen that they over-shot their time by significant
levels on some occasions.

The
debate, like the two others earlier in the week was live on more than
ten radio and television stations in Jamaica as well as via cable in
18 Caribbean countries and also on cable in the Tri-States of New
York, New Jersey and Connecticut in the United States of America. It
was also available on the JDC’s website and YouTube channel.

The
Jamaica Debates Commission is a partnership of the Jamaica Chamber of
Commerce and Media Association Jamaica.

Sponsors
for the 2020 JDC series of debates were: Scotiabank, FLOW, Proven,
the University of the West Indies, D&G Foundation, National
Commercial Bank, Panjam, Digicel, Jamaica National, the Victoria
Mutual Building Society and the National Democratic Institute