THE Government has added four new members to its team on the House of Representatives’ Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC). The four are Damion Crawford, Andre Hylton, Dr Winston Green and Jolyan Silvera.

The committee, which previously had 13 members — seven from government and six from the Opposition — has been expanded to 17, 11 of whom represent the Government. That makes it the largest committee in Parliament.

Senior PAAC member Fitz Jackson told the Jamaica Observer Thursday that the additional members were necessary in order for the committee to reflect the Government’s majority in the House of Representatives. The ruling People’s National Party has 42 Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party’s 21.

The resolution confirming the appointment of the four members was approved by the House of Representatives on March 5.

Chairman of the PAAC Opposition MP Edmund Bartlett, however, felt that the addition of members could have been much better handled.

“I just turned up to chair the meeting two Wednesdays ago and there were four new members,” Bartlett said. Clerk to the House Heather Cooke had to be called in to the meeting to explain the change to the chairman.

“It is unusual to adjust the membership of any committee without any discussions with the Opposition. I asked the Leader of Opposition Business (Delroy Chuck) and he said he was not informed about the additions,” the chairman added.

Bartlett said, however, that his main concern was not the increased Government presence on the committee, nor even his capability to control such a large and sometimes noisy committee, but the fact that the members seem to be focusing less on oversight and more on “defending” positions taken by their respective political parties on the issues, or seeking answers to questions to do with their respective constituencies.

“If the committee is to remain useful, it must fulfill its duty as watchdog, not to give excuses for the inappropriate use of public resources or reward inefficiency,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bartlett expressed concern that the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica has, since February, withdrawn live coverage of the committee’s weekly meetings.

“It is important that the public be kept abreast of the developments we have to deal with weekly, in the spirit of transparency,” Bartlett said.

He felt that the coverage was necessary for the public to see their legislators, as well as the public servants responsible for implementing government policies and programmes at work.

“It is a practice that has currency in democracy, and it has done well to assist good governance in the past, so why stop it?” Bartlett asked.

The PAAC is one of 10 sessional committees of Parliament and is among those which, since 2008, have been chaired by Opposition MPs in line with a pre-election commitment given by the previous Government. It has the task of monitoring spending by all Government ministries, departments and agencies.

Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips announced in last May’s budget debate that the role of the PAAC would be expanded, in terms of its parliamentary oversight, to ensure that Government expenditure is in accordance with what has been approved by Parliament, specifically in controlling the debt, and would include the tabling of half-yearly economic performance reports.

The PAAC is required to consider, usually in November of each year, the status of the medium-term economic programme, the progress on meeting the specified fiscal targets — including the fiscal deficit/surplus and the primary surplus, the resource and borrowing needs for the remainder of the current fiscal year, and the implications for the specified targets for the ensuing fiscal year in the context of the medium-term economic programme.

Prior to the addition, the committee members were: Bartlett – chairman; Lloyd B Smith, Fitz Jackson, Richard Parchment, Denise Daley, Mikael Phillips; Raymond Pryce, Dr Dayton Campbell, Audley Shaw, Dr Horace Chang, Mike Henry, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, and Dr Andrew Wheatley.