PNPYO backs Opposition’s call for immediate resignation of FLA CEO

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The People's National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) has thrown its support behind the Opposition’s demand for the immediate resignation of Shane Dalling as chief executive officer of the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA), following the findings of a recent Integrity Commission investigation.The call comes after an Integrity Commission report was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, detailing allegations of corruption, impropriety and operational irregularities within the FLA. Among the report’s most troubling findings was evidence that the agency’s database had been manipulated, including records indicating that a deceased man purchased 2,000 rounds of ammunition nearly three weeks after his death.READ: DEAD MAN BOUGHT AMMOREAD: PNP demands resignation of FLA CEO following integrity commission reportIn a statement issued Thursday, the PNPYO said the report “has confirmed what many suspected: that the FLA under Mr Dalling's leadership became an institution where accountability was optional, records were falsified and evidence conveniently disappeared”.The PNPYO described the allegations as a profound and unacceptable betrayal for young Jamaicans who are daily confronted with the devastating consequences of illegal firearms on streets.The youth arm highlighted several key findings from the Integrity Commission report, including:— The commission confirmed that a deceased individual's identity was used to fabricate ammunition sales records in a licensed dealer's name;— Hundreds of rounds of ammunition stored in the FLA's own vault cannot be accounted for; and— Critical server data was permanently lost because no backup system existed at a government agency responsible for regulating deadly weapons.“The youth of Jamaica are tired of watching those in authority escape consequences while ordinary citizens bear the cost of institutional failure,” said Peta-Gay Ferguson, general secretary of the PNPYO.She said the findings represented a failure of the FLA’s core mandate to protect public safety and were particularly painful for young people who have lost loved ones to gun violence.Every round of ammunition that cannot be accounted for is a round that could end up in a community like mine, in the hands of someone who should never have had access to it, said Ferguson.When the agency meant to control who holds deadly weapons cannot account for its own vault, young Jamaicans pay that price with their lives. We refuse to stay silent while institutional failure fuels the violence that is stealing our generation, she added.The PNPYO further called on the minister of national security to immediately commission a full and independent investigation into the FLA's operations.