PSOJ decries 'crass, boorish' conduct in Parliament - Says it will not attend legislature if lawmakers can't behave properly

The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) has called on the leadership of both political parties to take immediate steps to ensure that there is not a recurrence of what it labelled as the "crass and boorish" conduct of the nation's business in Parliament a week ago.

There were heated exchanges between members of both sides of the aisle in the Gordon House last Tuesday, as parliamentarians clashed over the Government's handling of the noxious fumes saga at Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James.

In a release yesterday, the PSOJ noted that until it was convinced that order and decorum can be maintained in Parliament during the Sectoral Debate, the PSOJ would send no representatives, to Gordon House "to participate as spectators".

"The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) has noted with dismay and concern the crude display of juvenile behaviour subversive to the conduct of the nation's business in our Parliament that occurred on April 24, 2018," read a press statement from the organisation.

"That this display of crass and boorish conduct was televised and occurred in the presence of school-children and representatives of the diplomatic corps is deplorable and a stain on our national image. However, to make it worse, it is further alleged to have been a deliberate strategy to subvert the normal process of parliamentary debate," the Howard Mitchell-led organisation stated.

The PSOJ argued that if the allegations were true, it had disturbing implications for the integrity of our democracy. In addition, it noted that the ugly incident had shown up the weakness and lack of control of the whips of both political parties and, indeed, the speaker of the House.