Simpson Miller - File

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has appealed for calm amid the recent negative press reports surrounding the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCo).

According to Simpson Miller, who is also the Minister of Sports, JADCo is an organisation that works and is working, and continues to have the blessing of her administration.

"We have heard all kinds of news about JADCo, and I am just saying to Jamaicans, let us remain calm," said Simpson Miller.

"JADCo is an organisation that is at work, and is working, and the Government will ensure that it continues to give support for the organisation to carry out its duties."

JADCo has been in the news with great alacrity in recent times, since several of the country's top athletes tested positive for banned substances earlier this year, and damning allegations by its former executive director Renee Anne Shirley.

The latest round of news surrounds the organisation's initial attempt to reschedule an extraordinary audit by the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA).

WADA wanted to visit earlier this month, however, reports surfaced that the local body expressed a desire that the visit be deferred until next year due to a hectic schedule.

lack resource

JADCo, preparing for a WADA convention in South Africa in three weeks time, as well cases for a disciplinary panel hearing five athletes in the next three months, had cited a lack of adequate resource personnel as the primary reasons for making the deferral request.

WADA, however, subsequently expressed displeasure with president John Fahey labelling the proposal as 'unsatisfactory.'

"To suggest to WADA they're not ready to meet with us to talk about their problem until sometime next year is unsatisfactory," Fahey told the Telegraph in the UK.

"It's totally unacceptable to me and we shall act appropriately within an appropriate time frame."

JADCo and WADA have subsequently agreed for the audit to be carried out early next week.