KINSON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s Opposition Leader Mark Golding is pressing parliamentary authorities to publicly table a long-completed investigative report from the country’s Integrity Commission (IC) into misconduct allegations at the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) when the House of Representatives convenes for its next sitting.
In a formal correspondence sent to House Speaker Juliet Holness this Monday, Golding outlined that the IC finalized and submitted the probe report to Parliament all the way back on March 30, 2026, yet the document has never been brought before the full chamber for public review. Citing a recent investigative piece published by *The Sunday Gleaner*, Golding confirmed that the speaker has already received official notification from the IC that the report centers on claims of systemic corruption, improper conduct, and administrative irregularities across multiple core FLA operations. These problematic areas include the issuing, modification, and cancellation of firearm licenses, as well as mismanagement in the storage of seized and held firearms and ammunition at the authority’s facilities.
Golding emphasized that the ongoing delay in releasing the report has become a pressing issue of major public concern. As a government statutory body endowed with broad, critical regulatory responsibilities, the FLA is inherently bound to principles of public accountability and transparent scrutiny, he argued.
“This protracted failure to disclose the report is a serious and dangerous breach of public trust. The FLA is not a private individual — it is a public institution with statutory mandate over high-stakes regulatory functions. There is an undeniable and overwhelming public interest in bringing any improper or irregular practices in its operations to light, so that corrective action can be taken,” Golding wrote in the letter.
The opposition leader also pushed back against common justifications for withholding the document centered on ongoing related court proceedings. In a democratic system, he contended, transparency and open public debate must take priority, and active litigation does not provide a valid reason to keep the report hidden from constituents.
“Ongoing court proceedings cannot serve as a legal or appropriate justification for continuing to withhold this report from the public. In this context, it is important to highlight that courts have long affirmed that open public discourse and constructive criticism are foundational to a functioning democracy. Public bodies are expected to accept scrutiny, rather than leveraging legal processes to block transparency, evade accountability, and silence public oversight,” Golding noted.
He referenced a landmark UK legal precedent, *Derbyshire County Council v Times Newspapers*, in which courts ruled that permitting public authorities to file defamation claims over harm to their institutional reputation would have a severe chilling effect on free public expression — a outcome the judiciary has consistently refused to allow.
Golding concluded that unless a specific, binding court order explicitly prohibits the report’s release, there are no legal or ethical grounds to delay tabling it any further.
“As Leader of the Opposition, it is my formal duty to call for this report to be tabled when the House next meets. I trust that in your role as Speaker, you will fulfill your own duty to ensure this action is carried out when the chamber convenes next Tuesday afternoon.”