Deliver job descriptions before elections – JAMP urges PM
Published:Friday | April 4, 2025 | 12:08 AM
A leading civil society body is calling on Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness to deliver on his 2023 commitment to establish job descriptions for members of Parliament.
Jeanette Calder, executive director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP), is urging the prime minister to complete the process before the upcoming general elections.
In the wake of the controversial salary hikes granted to ministers of government and MPs under the compensation review without performance metrics, Holness pledged accountability mechanisms that would justify future compensation decisions.
Following the huge salary jump amounting to more than 200 per cent in some instances, the prime minister defended his administration’s policy to grant the increase on June 20, 2023, in Gordon House.
“Along with improved compensation there must be a well-articulated and transparent performance measurement and accountability framework. The other side of the compensation reform is the implementation of the performance-based system and an accountability framework to be implemented in the next two years,” Holness said.
To date, draft job descriptions for MPs and Cabinet ministers were tabled, a joint select committee was established, and two public consultations and two committee meetings were convened. However, since the deadline for public submissions elapsed in December 2023, fifteen months have passed since, with no meetings for public review.
Calder argues that the Jamaican electorate is now facing the prospect of selecting representatives without clear standards to evaluate either past performance or future performance.
“This leaves taxpayers in the position of being unable to hold MPs accountable even as they are compelled to foot the bill for their salaries,” she added.
In response to this concern, JAMP commissioned a public survey in which 1,757 Jamaicans participated.
The survey sought to assess citizens’ understanding of parliamentary responsibilities particularly as they relate to corruption prevention. The findings revealed critical gaps in public awareness as well as clear priorities for reform.
In a public webinar on Tuesday to present the findings of the survey, JAMP expressed concerns that the draft job descriptions disproportionately focus on constituency work, particularly the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), which represents only one per cent of the national budget, in contrast to parliamentary oversight functions that would address the remaining 99 per cent.
“The aim is not to reduce the attention being paid to the CDF but to have the job description capture the MP’s role of robust parliamentary oversight and policymaking on behalf of their constituents,” Calder noted.