PRIVATE Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) President Christopher Zacca has criticised Government senator and member of the embattled National Housing Trust (NHT) board, Lambert Brown, for his description of civil society groups as “loose and irresponsible”.

Brown’s comment came after the groups — 10 environmental bodies and 13 groups representing women — on Monday suspended their participation in the Partnership For Jamaica (PFJ) initiative in light of Government’s handling of NHT’s purchase of the loss-making Outameni tourist attraction.

Brown, in Parliament Tuesday, insisted that the groups should be barred from sitting on public bodies, such as the Integrity Commission.

“The comments, as reported in the press today (yesterday), of Senator Brown in Parliament yesterday (Tuesday), are not in keeping with the discussion we had yesterday at the partnership meeting,” Zacca told journalists yesterday at a Jamaica House post-Cabinet press briefing to announce that the PFJ initiative would continue despite ill feelings about the Outameni purchase.

“The tone and the content of the comments are part of the problem why we actually had to have that meeting yesterday. And it did not do any service to advance the partnership and it’s quite negative to the continuation of the partnership.

“…Therefore, I will just say to Senator Brown, who is a member of the partnership, that those types of comments are not helpful to the development of partnerships and for the development of the country,” Zacca said, noting that the private sector holds a view that the voices of civil society groups are critical to the country’s development.

The PSOJ and other groups had consistently called for the resignation of the Easton Douglas-led NHT board, following news that the Trust spent nearly $200 million to purchase the Outameni attraction.

Yesterday, Zacca suggested that a compromise was reached to allow the current board to serve out its term.

“I will say that we are willing to accept, despite our different concerns at different levels about the actions of the NHT, that a new board will be appointed on April 2 and we expect that board will restore confidence by the general public in the NHT,” Zacca said.

He said it is clear that the events surrounding the NHT transaction have dealt a significant blow to the private sector’s social partnership with the Government. However, he said that following consultations the private sector is of the view that the continuation of dialogue and the partnership are paramount to the nation’s development.

The outgoing PSOJ president said that Tuesday’s meeting had ensured that governance of public bodies is back on the front burner.

Meanwhile, Minister with Responsibility for Information in the Office of the Prime Minister Sandrea Falconer restated the Government’s position to allow the NHT board to serve out its term, while expressing hope that the civil bodies that pulled from the partnership would reconsider.

“We certainly want them back at the table because this partnership is very important to the Government,” Falconer said.