Fiasco as lawmaker no-shows doom parliamentary meeting
Published:Thursday | April 21, 2022 | 12:11 AM
An embarrassment and indictment on the Parliament!
That is how chairman of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC), Mikael Phillips, has described Wednesday’s abysmal no-show of the membership of the oversight committee, leading to the cancellation of a scheduled sitting.
The 14-member committee of the PAAC comprises three opposition and 11 government legislators.
Phillips was peeved that senior technocrats from the Ministry of Transport and Mining and Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) officials showed up before the scheduled 10 a.m. start of the meeting, only to hear that it was scrapped because a quorum had not been achieved.
“I had to go out there and apologise to them. It was an embarrassment!” he stressed.
Phillips told The Gleaner that only he and Frank Witter turned up Wednesday for a meeting that was intended to review a report from the Ministry of Transport and Mining on the JUTC.
One of the most critical oversight committees of Parliament, the PAAC has a quorum of three members, including the chairman.
Phillips said that the schedule for Wednesday’s meeting was sent to committee members more than three weeks ago.
He said that the members of the committee were again sent a reminder on April 19.
Phillips said there were six apologies for absence Wednesday.
“You have members who come to one meeting and disappear for four or five meetings,” said Phillips.
The PAAC chairman said he understood the absence of Heroy Clarke, the member of parliament for St James Central, whose constituents suffered serious flooding as a result of Tuesday’s heavy rains.
“Most members don’t see the importance of the meetings because they think they were only elected to be in their constituencies and don’t realise the importance of the work of the committee. This is the most important committee of Parliament,” he said.
Phillips said that committee member Fitz Jackson has been away on parliamentary duties in Europe.
Last week’s sitting of the PAAC started about 45 minutes late, with the committee barely forming a quorum.
He noted that since 2020, the PAAC has been struggling to have committee meetings.
The Standing Orders of Parliament states that the PAAC is tasked with examining budgetary expenditure of government agencies and other public bodies to ensure that expenditure is done in accordance with parliamentary approval.
The committee is also responsible for monitoring expenditure as it occurs and keeping the Parliament informed on how the Budget is being implemented.
The oversight committee is also mandated to enquire into the administration of the Government to determine hindrances to efficiency and to make recommendations for the improvement of public administration.
The Gleaner requested the attendance record for members of the PAAC for the last parliamentary year (2021-2022) from the clerk to the Houses of Parliament, Valrie Curtis. However, up to news time, those records had not been submitted.
A request was also made for Parliament to provide a copy of the recording of the remarks by the PAAC chairman, who commented on the reasons for the cancellation of the meeting. However, this also was not submitted by the administration of Gordon House.