No banking act, SOE ‘marriage’ – Jackson
Published:Tuesday | December 24, 2019 | 3:44 PM
People’s National Party (PNP) Chairman Fitz Jackson says the party will not be tying its support for further extensions of the states of emergency to the government backing the opposition’s push for amendments to the Banking Services Act.
When the House of Representatives debated and voted on the Fitz Jackson-piloted private member’s bill in February, it was rejected 30-29 as the whip was applied to government Members of Parliament, forcing them to vote along strict party lines rather than on conscience.
Jackson’s bill seeks to prevent deposit-taking institutions such as commercial banks from charging customers “arbitrary and exorbitant fees”.
A senior party representative who requested anonymity told The Gleaner that the party would want to government’s support on the issue for it to back SOE extensions.
But in a statement today, Jackson said the claim is inaccurate and does not represent the position of the opposition.
He said he was approached by different reporters, who were interested in his plans for bringing the bill back on top of the parliamentary agenda.
According to Jackson, one reporter suggested a possible "marriage" which he said has not been proposed as a considered approach for the party as it was never discussed internally by the PNP Parliamentary Group or leadership of the Party.
He underscored that the Banking Services Bill is extremely important to bringing relief to Jamaicans from high banking fees and he will continue to pursue its passage in Parliament.
According to him, some government members have expressed support for the bill in private.
He said the opposition would be vigorous in pushing for the new law in 2020 as Jackson argued that banking fees were totalling billions of dollars each year from account holders.
“With the push towards using electronic payments and lessen the risk of carrying around cash, the fees had become burdensome particularly to low wage earners, who have now lost to the banks the benefit of the higher income tax threshold,” Jackson said.
The PNP chairman is assuring Jamaicans, including the business sector, which have made public statements on the issue, that the SOE extension in January would be considered in the normal way by examining its benefit to the runaway murders and shooting incidents in Jamaica.
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