SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Delroy Chuck, feels that the media has been too harsh on the members, in terms of how they publish the names of those who are absent from sittings.

“To be fair to the members, a number of times when they miss a sitting, they are on official duties, or they are absent for good reasons,” the Speaker said.

“On most occasions when members are absent, they send in apologies and I know that before the sittings of the House, I get a number of apologies… on these apologies I state seen, approved, and it is noted,” he added.

“In 90 per cent of the cases, apologies are presented,” he noted, citing the absence of Dr Morais Guy (Opposition, Central St Mary) and Othneil Lawrence (Government, North West St Ann), both attending a regional parliamentarians meeting in Mexico, as well as deputy speaker, Marisa Dalrymple, also away on parliamentary business.

“The impression is given that when a person is absent four, ten or 20 times, it means that they have disregarded their duties in Parliament, which is not necessarily the case,” the Speaker said.

It seems that the Speaker is more concerned with the presence of MPs at the start of the sitting. He constantly complains about the lack of a quorum at 2:00 pm when the House is scheduled to start.

In fact, a week earlier, he had commented that it was the first time he was seeing both Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller in the House for the start of the sitting.

Maybe he has a point. Chuck has probably the best attendance of all MPs since being elected to the House. But, he has already been absent four times this year, on Parliamentary duties, of course.

. Parliament has now named the full Joint Select Committee to study six anti-crime bills tabled in the House of Representatives by Prime Minister Bruce Golding on the 9th of September.

The committee – which is expected to be chaired by Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Senator Dorothy Lightbourne – will also include: Government members – Senator Trevor MacMillan, Pearnel Charles, Senator Arthur Williams, Laurie Broderick, Daryl Vaz, Dr St Aubyn Bartlett and Tom Tavares Finson;

Opposition members – Dr Peter Phillips, Fitz Jackson, Sharon Hay-Webster and senators A J Nicholson, K D Knight and Mark Golding.

Members from the Senate were named Friday. The committee is scheduled to meet on September 16, 23, 24 and 30, and report back to the House to facilitate a debate on October 7 and 8. The six bills are:

. An Act to make interim provision extending the powers of arrest and detention under sections 50B and 50F of the Constabulary Force Act;

. An Act to further amend the Firearms Act, to provide for a minimum sentence of 15 years for certain convictions;

. An Act to amend the Parole Act to allow for persons sentenced to 15 years to life for specified firearms offences to be denied parole before completing 10 years sentence;

. An Act to amend the Offences Against the Person Act to provide for a minimum custodial sentence of 15 years for persons convicted in the Circuit Court of shooting or wounding;

. An Act to make interim provision, in relation to the grant of bail in specified circumstances, for accused persons to be detained for up to 60 days on certain charges; and

. An Act seeking to amend the Bail Act to require the accused to satisfy the court that bail should be granted and conferring on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) the right of appeal where bail is granted by the court.

The bills were drafted following bipartisan discussions between the Government and the Opposition, in the wake of a serious crime wave which gripped the country earlier in the year.

. In another crime related matter in Parliament this week, Assistant Commissioner of Police Justin Felice, head of anti-corruption in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), said that the commission may have to use police personnel to probe corruption within its ranks until civilians are trained to do the job. He was speaking at a meeting of a Joint Select Committee studying the proposed independent commission to investigate abuses by the security forces.

“The system works, but unfortunately, it will take time to train people to the required standard. So, I think at the beginning we are going to have to look very carefully about whether there will be provisions made for certain individuals to be seconded to the commission,” ACP Felice said last Wednesday.

Senator Lightbourne, who also chairs this committee, disagreed.

“You recognise that this bill is trying to move as far away from using police personnel, as far as possible? So, if you are going to look at using police officers in the first instance, we may well have to look at the whole scheme of the bill again,” she told Felice.

Opposition member, Senator K D Knight, also had a warning for Felice.

“I am just going to make one point, and I am going to use one word that is very relevant in Jamaica: The word is ‘squaddie’. Think about it,” Knight suggested.

The bill seeks to repeal the Police Public Complaints Act to make provisions for the establishment of a Commission of Parliament – known as the Independent Commission of Investigations – to undertake investigations into abuses by members of the security forces and other agents of the State, that result in death or injury to persons or the abuse of the rights of persons.

The committee has already heard from Jamaicans for Justice. Last Wednesday it heard from the Norman Manley Law School. The next submissions are expected from the Independent attorney-at-law Norman Davis, a lecturer at the Norman Manley Law School.