THE Senate yesterday approved a Bill transferring responsibility for the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) from the Ministry of Industry to the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, in a noisy and prolonged debate at Gordon House.

The Bill, which was passed in the House of Representatives without much dissent two weeks ago, turned into a rowdy exchange which led to Government Senator Don Wehby commenting that the behaviour of some members was “very sad”.

Opposition Senator Lambert Brown accused Prime Minister Andrew Holness, under whose Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation the SEZs will now operate, of lumping important portfolios under his own stewardship.

He said that he was concerned about “the concentration of power within the ministry” and in the hands of the prime minister.

Government senators Pearnel Charles Jr and Charles Sinclair raised a number of “points of order” to bring the Senate’s standing orders into play, as Brown tried to raise several issues to justify his claims.

Senator Wehby, who rose next, pointed to the students and teachers in the gallery, and commented that he was not happy with what was happening in the Senate.

“When I look at the future leaders of our country and our teachers of our country witnessing what has happened for the last half an hour, I think it is very sad, and that is my personal opinion,” he said.

He said that he had no problem with the prime minister taking personal responsibility of the zones.

“I call it leadership with responsibility,” he argued.

Speaking as the current chairman of Jamaica Promotions (JAMPRO), he said that bureaucracy has been holding back the country’s development, and he felt that the ministry of economic growth and job creation, with the right support staff, would lead to a lot more investment decisions being taken.

Wehby said that a number of investors have already informed JAMPRO of their willingness to become involved in the zones.

“I believe that a lot of the bureaucracy, in terms of investment decisions, will be taken care of… I am talking about significant job creation,” he noted.

But Opposition Senator Sophia Frazer-Binns said that the concerns with regards to the execution of some duties and portfolio responsibilities that fall under “the particular minister” were justified.

“My hope is that… as we move forward, that we do everything in our power to ensure that some of the events of the past, and in particular the recent past, are not repeated,” she cautioned.

However, she said that she was in favour of the continuum which was being created across the political administrations.

“I am hoping that with this portfolio being placed in the prime minister’s office, that transparency, leadership and accountability will be the defining features,” she added.

Closing the debate, the leader of government business and minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, said that the Government was confident that the strategy which is being employed, and which does not breach the separation of powers in the Constitution, would work for the benefit of the country.

“The separation of powers constitutionally speaks to separation of the executive, legislature and the judiciary, and this is not a matter of how portfolios are allocated within the executive,” she told Senator Frazer-Binns.

She said that the Government members had confidence in the move, based on its policies, having pulled together the levers of development — works, construction, water, and the environment — aallowing for holistic decisions to be taken to eliminate bureaucracy and help to foster growth. She said they had resulted in increased investments, reflecting the “highest business confidence levels” the country has experienced since the measuring of those indices.

“These things speak directly to what is happening as a result of the new approach to the consolidation and cohesion that has been brought to growth and development under this ministry (economic growth and job creation), which sits in the Office of the Prime Minister,” she said.

The Bill was then passed by the Senate without any amendments.