#BudgetDebate2021 | Construction of new Parliament building to start 2022

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that the construction of a new Parliament building will begin early in the 2022/23 financial year.

In his contribution to the Budget Debate in Gordon House Thursday afternoon, the Head of Government said that designs and drawings of the new Parliament building were complete.

He also told fellow parliamentarians that building approvals have  been granted by the requisite government agencies.

Holness said that the project was now going through the public investment process to be followed by the procurement and implementation phases.

And in the wake of reports by The Gleaner last month that three of four parliamentary committees back under government stewardship did not hold a single meeting up to February this year, the prime minister instructed the chairpersons of all sessional select committees to hold at least one meeting by the end of June, this year.

“The business of the nation cannot be stalled. The committees that are empanelled under the Standing Orders must start working on their subject matter and review materials even if they don’t have hearings,” the prime minister said.

He also mandated Leader of Government Business Edmund Bartlett to immediately conduct a comprehensive review of the system of sessional select committees and make recommendations regarding the resources needed to improve their effective functioning in the short term.

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