AN attempt by the Internal and External Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives to start looking at regulating civil society/lobby groups has been delayed by a lack of submissions.

Gordon House first advertised for submissions from interested parties in February after Leader of the House of Representatives Phillip Paulwell, announced that the motion from MP Raymond Pryce (North East St Elizabeth) seeking to have the organisations regulated, especially in terms of their funding, would go to a House committee.

However, when the committee met last week Wednesday to start the deliberations, members found that only one submission was solicited, and that was from the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS).

The committee was so disappointed with the lack of interest shown in the subject that they requested that the issue be re-advertised in the press last weekend giving interested parties two more weeks to send in submissions on the issue.

“The reason why we are going back to the public is the fact that we only got one submission, and we figured that this time there would be more interest shown by the public,” said chairman of the committee and Opposition MP, Derrick Smith.

However, the lack of interest in the matter could be due to the motion Which was actually tabled three years ago by Pryce, prompting strong criticisms from the public which feared an attempt to reduce the influence of the civil society/lobby groups or non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The resolution, which was referred to the committee in November 2013, states that it “is in keeping with emerging global financial and ethical requirements”.

It also expressed a need to “vouchsafe and protect Jamaica’s democracy from any such compromise, as could be caused by unknown or tainted sources of funds or hidden agendas”.

The resolution originally called on the House to debate the issue but, as Pryce himself later admitted, several of the affected organisations had indicated that a preference for the matter be reviewed by a House Select Committee which would allow for submissions from the public.

Pryce agreed, stating that he believed that the suggestion would actually enrich the process.

He argued that the NGOs, which are able to influence the formation of public opinion, can themselves be “hijacked” or otherwise compromised by those who would rather use them to advance their political or partisan agendas.

The sole submission from the JCHS, signed by JCHS legal affairs chairperson, Shirley P Richards, had some concerns about the issues raised in the motion. “What is the aim of such a proposed legislation? Also: What is the mischief which it seeks to correct?”

Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Arnaldo Brown, who is a member of the House committee reacted that the mischief being addressed by the motion. “is really the lack of transparency among civil society groups”.

He said that he did not think that the resolution was conceived with any “ill intent”, or to “suppress freedom of expression and freedom of association”.

“But, really to enhance freedom of expression and association, by allowing the public to understand, and to see, whether or not there is in fact any influence that may have been peddled by the source of their funding,” he explained.

The committee is expected to meet again on June 30.

— Balford Henry