Committees get nod to continue
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate, seeking to ensure that various committees resume their work immediately after the new session starts, passed resolutions to allow them to complete their jobs without having to be reappointed.
The resolutions require that in the case of committees which have not completed deliberations, that further consideration of the bills, issues and reports before them be suspended and that, in the new session of Parliament, the House be empowered to enable these committees to proceed with certain motions referred to them from the stages reached before prorogation.
The committees included in the resolution are the Public Accounts; Standing Orders; Economy and Production; Ethics; and Infrastructure and Physical Development.
The affected Joint Select Committees are those looking at: the Green Paper of 2001 re flexible work arrangements; the Report of the National Commission on Ganja; and Proposals for the Reform of Local Government; Private Bills, as well as those to amend the following bills: Offences Against the Person; Incest (Punishment); Corruption Prevention Act/Corruption Prevention Amendment regulations/Corruption Prevention Commission.
Also included are Special Select Committees dealing with security, defence and the justice system; reparations; and Air Jamaica.
The last report of the Ethics Committee, laid on March 20, was also included.
This report has approved requests from Pearnel Charles (Opposition, North Central Clarendon), Dr Donald Rhodd (Government, East Portland) and K D Knight (Government, East Central St Catherine) for exemption from constitutional breaches from acquiring government contracts.
Dr Peter Phillips told the House that the details have been considered and they have been recommended for exemption.
Throne Speech
A number of comments have been made in the media and in the public since Thursday on the 2007/2008 Throne Speech.
Among the points made were: it was too short; it was lacking in inspiration; it didn’t offer anything new and only repeated last year’s targets.
Well, as a member of the press, I certainly welcome the brevity, especially with the current governor-general making the delivery, as it reduced the possibility of falling asleep.
But, unfortunately, although this Throne Speech was possibly the shortest in the history of Gordon House, it was just as boring as most others.
It really didn’t offer anything new, and the press had to dig deep to come up with leads.
Incidentally, it was interesting that of the 11 bills the G-G said that the Government proposed to pass, or complete work on passage, during 2006/2007 the future of the majority of them are still unclear.
These are: the Incest (Punishment), the Charter of Rights bill, Police Public Complaints (Amendment), Electoral Commission of Jamaica, Representation of the People (Interim Reform) (Repeal), Broadcasting and Rediffusion.
It is very unlikely that Parliament will be able to pass all these bills outstanding from last year plus the newer ones he announced, like the Child Pornography, Obscene Publication, Data Protection and Petroleum Quality Control or even the crucial Evidence (Amendment) bill which seeks to facilitate the use of live TV links for the protection of vulnerable witnesses, this year.
But despite the failure to pass so many bills, the leader of the House, Dr Peter Phillips, felt that it was a “good year”.
“It has been a good year. We have passed significant legislation,” Phillips told the House at the adjournment on Tuesday.
But leader of opposition business Derrick Smith disagreed. He pointed to the outstanding bills, the 22 Private Members Motions which were not debated, and the failure of a number of committees to meet.
“The Opposition cannot agree that it has been a good parliamentary year,” Smith said. “Answering questions was not bad, but otherwise, it was a very bad year.”
Baugh critical of Parliament
The usually suave Dr Kenneth Baugh, the Opposition spokesman on health, had some harsh comments about Parliament Tuesday as he opened the debate on his Private Members Motion on water problems in West Central St Catherine, which he had been seeking to have debated for the past two years.
“This Parliament should critically and seriously evaluate itself,” Dr Baugh said, “because, in the view of people whom we represent, the question of the utility and the relevance of Parliament must come into the forefront of our consideration.
“If we are unable to relieve these fundamental problems that are seminal to so many aspects of people’s lives, and this is going on for two and three decades, then one might well ask, what is the use of Parliament?”
His Opposition colleague, Ernest Smith (South West St Ann) threatened to sit down, during the same debate, after being heckled by Government members during his contribution.
Smith made the point that his constituency was probably the only one in Jamaica without a piped water system.
Government members referred to the fact that the constituency had been represented by the Gallimores (JLP) for decades.
“I feel very offended when I speak on matters affecting my constituency and people start referring to my predecessors,” Smith said as he started to sit. However, his colleague, Joseph Hibbert (East Rural St Andrew), pulled him back up on his feet and encouraged him to resume.
Sharon Hay Webster (Government, South Central St Catherine) felt that Smith was being too thin-skinned, “even in church people respond to the preacher”, she told him.