THE People’s National Party’s Paul Stewart, councillor for the Hagley Park Division of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), has been appointed chairman of the council’s bi-partisan Oversight Committee, the first for a local council.

The naming of the committee and the appointment of a chairman from the minority party came in the wake of criticisms by the contractor general earlier this year, of the procurement procedures of the Jamaica Labour Party-led council.

Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie, who announced Stewart’s appointment yesterday, said the nine-man Oversight Committee, which will be open to the press and the public, will meet for the first time next month.

However, McKenzie said that unlike other committees which have regularly scheduled monthly meetings, the Oversight Committee would only hold meetings when they were warranted.

“It will meet as issues arise or there are questions from the public. Our internal auditors are going to be an integral part of it and there are guidelines that are laid down as to how it will operate as well as the terms of reference,” McKenzie told the Observer.

The Oversight Committee has five JLP and four PNP councillors.

The JLP councillors are: Vernon McLeod (Havendale Division), Answerd Ramcharan (Red Hills Division), Joyce Young (Duhaney Park Division), Winston Ennis (Waterloo Division) and Joy Cotterel (Barbican Division).

Other PNP councillors, in addition to the chairman of the committee are: Angella Brown-Burke (Norman Gardens Division), David White (Springfield Division) and Trevor Bernard (Maxfield Division).

Yesterday, councillors of the PNP minority caucus of the KSAC said that they were pleased with the mayor’s announcement.

The PNP councillors, at the same time, urged the Ministry of Local Government and Environment and the other parish councils to “follow the example set by the KSAC in carrying forward local government reform”.

The PNP, however, sought to claim paternity for the Oversight Committee, which it claimed was born out of their call for the establishment of an Audit Committee with functions similar to those the Oversight Committee would have.

“For good order we report that our original proposal called for the establishment of an Audit Committee with functions identical to those now placed under the Oversight Committee which has now been formed,” the PNP councillors said.

In November 2005, Brown-Burke brought a resolution to the council proposing the setting up of an Audit Committee with oversight responsibilities.