PSOJ calls for bipartisan talks to resolve parliamentary oversight issues

The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) says Prime Minister Andrew Holness should reevaluate his position on the matter of the chairmanship of the sessional committees of the House of Representatives.

Disquiet has been raised after the Government last week announced the change.

While Opposition will continue to chair the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee, four other key sessional committees that examine government policies and sector performances – Internal and External Affairs, Economy and Production, Human Resource and Social Development, and Infrastructure and Physical Development – will be headed by government members.

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The opposition has blasted the move, calling it unfair and a retrograde step.

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“We strongly recommend that the PM engages the Leader of the Opposition to put in place performance standards for the chairman and members of these sessional committees to ensure that they provide the oversight function that was intended and is required from these committees,” said PSOJ President, Keith Duncan, in a statement.

Sessional committees have the responsibility of ventilating Government policy positions and projects and to bring these deliberations into the public space while providing oversight on behalf of Jamaicans, noted the PSOJ.

The PSOJ says it has received clarity that the development and execution of Government policy and projects will not and have not been hampered by the relative inactivity of these committees.

Notwithstanding, it is disappointing that elected legislators have not provided an acceptable level of oversight, review and scrutiny of Government policy positions that fall under the purview of these sessional committees, the organization charged.

“While we believe this disregard of national duty should not be tolerated, we also do not believe that removing the oversight function from the Opposition is an acceptable solution.

“The Opposition has a duty and responsibility to execute and must take responsibility for the failure of this oversight function as the effective operation of these sessional committees is paramount to the maintenance of accountability and good governance,” said the PSOJ.

“Jamaica is a maturing democracy and we must be deliberate in our efforts to build more transparent institutions on the principles of accountability with the appropriate checks and balances that protect the Jamaican people,” it added.

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