PARLIAMENT’S summer break ends today, as the House of Representatives will resume sitting tomorrow at Gordon House.

The agenda for the meeting has not yet been disclosed; however, the decisions will be made today when the Cabinet meets under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Andrew Holness to discuss the priorities at Jamaica House.

The Houses of Parliament ended on a high note in the first week of July, having passed some very important pieces of legislation including amendments to the long-delayed Road Traffic Act (RTA) and its regulations; the life of the current zones of special operations being extended; as well as the tabling of reports from the joint select committees (JSC) which reviewed the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulations) Act 2022, and the Jamaica Teaching Council Act, 2022.

The JSC’s reports on the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulations) Act, 2022, the JTC Act, 2022, and the delayed new Tobacco Act are expected to be the most controversial issues facing the Parliament between now and the Christmas break.

Issues regarding the level of resignations of teachers and the accommodation of students in public schools, as well as the UDC’s Performance Audit Report, August 2022, should come up.

The House is also likely to pay tribute to former clerk, Edley Lopez Deans, who died on Saturday, August 27.

Deans’ parliamentary career spanned six decades as he served as assistant clerk of the legislature in 1956 and then as deputy clerk of the post-Independence Parliament from 1968 to 1978. He was appointed clerk in 1978 and retired in 1994.

He went on to serve as a consultant to Parliament on its practices and procedures until 2002. He was honoured with the Order of Distinction (Commander Class) in 1982 for his services to the Parliament.

— Balford Henry