The suffering of the Press, as it attempts to give full coverage of the proceedings in Parliament, has reached a new low since the commencement of the 2007/2008 budget debate.

With the Press gallery already cramped for space, the media have to be competing with representatives of the political parties for space in the side galleries where the Speaker, Michael Peart, said he had allotted space to the Fourth Estate to compensate for the loss of space caused by his “doodle door”.

Since the debate started, the additional space in the northern gallery has been virtually taken over by political party supporters who attend to support particular speakers. The noise and the numbers make it difficult to hear and to sit comfortably in the area.

The situation worsened last Thursday when the leader of the opposition spoke. Not only was the public gallery jam-packed with people standing in the aisles, but the southern gallery which, lately, has been reserved for Cabinet ministers’ security personnel but which was opened up to the public to ease the pressure on the public gallery, was also overflowing.

The situation should get even worse on Tuesday when Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is scheduled to make her presentation.

Probably the intention of the Speaker and his staff in allowing so many people into the building, knowing there is no space for them, is to drive home the message that there is need for a new or expanded building. They should score a point there, in light of the discomfort the public must have experienced during the speeches.

But it is sad that the media should be caught in the middle of this.

Sectoral debate unlikely

. Incidentally, with the election mood at fever pitch, it now seems unlikely that there will be a sectoral debate this year.

The budget debate will end with minister of finance and planning, Dr Omar Davies’ response on Wednesday. It is understood that there will be a two-week break after that.

It now seems quite unlikely that after that break, in the midst of the election fever, the House of Representatives will be able to pull in enough members for the prolonged sectoral debate, which often goes on for six to eight weeks, sometimes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Leader of Opposition Business Derrick Smith says he has met with the Leader of the House Dr Peter Phillips to discuss the matter and they seem to share the view that it will be difficult getting a quorum after next month’s break.

The sectoral debate involves the 53 MPs who do not participate in the budget debate. It is often the only opportunity for members to expand on the problems affecting their constituencies or their views on national issues.

It also allows ministers, other than those who participate in the budget debate, to give updates on the performance of their ministries.

Focus on road spending

. Since the uproar in the House of Representatives triggered by the charges made by the Opposition against junior minister of housing, transport, water and works, Richard Azan, spending on roads has taken on renewed significance in Parliament.

You may recall that the Opposition MPs claimed that Azan deliberately ignored them on trips to their constituencies to view infrastructural problems, such as roads and bridges. They claimed that he was often in the company of the PNP caretaker/candidates and that these persons were the ones asked to send him lists of job seekers.

The issue took on added interest with nearly $2 billion being allocated for flood mitigation this year, including road repairs and drain/gully cleaning.

Opposition spokesman on finance, Audley Shaw, claimed that Azan used $500 million of the ministry’s funds to finance work on 28 roads in his (Azan’s) constituency alone last year. Shaw has also produced a list of the roads, at the request of the Speaker. Azan has denied the charge.

But the Opposition MPs have been raising hell since the minister, Robert Pickersgill, defended Azan by explaining that some of them got larger allocations from the works programme than Azan got, but that the junior minister topped up his allocation with donations of material from Jamalco.

Since then, the JLP MPs are saying that the money Pickersgill referred to must have been spent without their knowledge. Three of them have now tabled questions seeking detailed explanations of how those funds were spent.

Delroy Chuck (North-East St Andrew) says he wants to know over what period $128.5 million was spent in his constituency, what contractors were engaged, the nature of each contract and where the work was done?

Joseph Hibbert (East Rural St Andrew) has asked for a breakdown of the allocations and advice on the contractors who were employed.

Last Thursday, Barry Gray (East Hanover) asked about the scope of work in his constituency involving the $34 million listed as being spent there, and the names of the contractors.

The issue is expected to highlight pre-election exchanges in the House of Representatives.

Leader of the opposition, Bruce Golding, says he plans to pursue the issue of whether MPs should have the right to be involved in the planning of these developments in their constituencies.

Yasus Afari to visit the House

. Rastafarian poet, John ‘Yasus Afari’ Sinclair will be at Gordon House on Tuesday at 1:00 pm to present copies of his new book, Rastafari – Jamaica’s Gift to the World, to members of parliament.

Speaker Michael Peart has invited all members to attend the function, which will take place prior to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller’s budget speech.

Golding says he’ll never use church to secure votes

Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, in an apparent dig at Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller’s embrace of religion in her political campaigning, said he would “never do or say anything that is intended or could be interpreted as seeking to use the church to secure votes”.

Said Golding, as he closed his contribution to the budget debate last Thursday: “There has been much debate recently about prophets and prophecies. Jamaica has had many prophets, some of whom, like Alexander Bedward, are memorialised in Jamaican history and folklore.

“I don’t intend to enter upon that debate, except to say this. The God that I and, indeed, all of us worship – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – has only one gatekeeper. And in St John’s gospel, that gatekeeper tells us, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the father, except through me.’

“I believe Him, and I believe in Him. Each of us may express our faith in different ways. As a political leader seeking office, something that I am extremely cautious about, indeed I hold it sacrosanct, is that I must never do or say anything that is intended or could be interpreted as seeking to use the church to secure votes.

“The God that I worship – the same God that you worship – is neither PNP or JLP. He is a good God, a loving God and a merciful God. I will never be presumptuous enough to declare myself anointed by God. We are, all of us, children of God who have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But he is a forgiving God who has placed us as labourers in his vineyard.

“Prime Minister, you and I come from adjoining districts. You are from Woodhall and I am from Ginger Ride, about five miles apart (St. Catherine).

“We were born just one year apart. During our time we have seen Prime Ministers assume office in their forties: Hugh Shearer (43); Michael Manley (48), Edward Seaga just about 50. Neither of us has had that privilege. And therefore, even as we seek to serve our God and our people, not long from now we will move off the stage and the Jamaican people will carry on. Even when our positions may be reversed, as we expect it will this year, you and I will have to work together to unite our people, to build a nation of righteousness, justice and prosperity.

“And when we can labour no more and must pass the baton to those who will come after us, let us not look to the honours and the titles for our glory and satisfaction. Let us earn the right to say, ‘we have fought a good fight, we have finished our course, and we have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for us a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give us that day.”