Robert Hart, Assistant News Editor
TRANSPORT AND Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill, last night resisted Opposition demands for him to be censured and made to apologise for misleading the nation.
Pickersgill had angered Opposition legislators last month by claiming that parish councils had received almost $4 billion for roadwork in the 2004/2005 financial year.
But yesterday he withstood a verbal assault from eight Opposition Members of Parliament who accused him of deception and causing embarrassment for the mostly Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)-led parish councils, which actually received about $800 million for roadwork. The rest of the funds were used to pay for street lighting and other council bills.
THREE-HOUR DEBATE
However, after a hostile three-hour debate, a censure motion tabled by Opposition Spokesman on Works, Pearnel Charles, was amended to simply acknowledge the Works Minister's "regret" about the "misunderstanding".
The amendment received the approval of 29 Government members, but was rejected by 18 Opposition MPs. Opposition members Everard Warmington and Olivia Grange abstained.
Yesterday Pickersgill claimed he had been misunderstood because disorder broke out during the earlier sitting of the House. At that time, he had been responding to Mr. Warmington's request for information on what the Government was doing about roads damaged since recent flood rains.
"I attach to my statement an extract of the final six pages of this debate as recorded in Hansard indicating the behaviour of members that eventually led the Speaker to summarily adjourn the sitting," Mr. Pickersgill said yesterday.
"I regret that as a consequence I did not have the opportunity to clear up any misunderstanding that may have existed in the minds of some of the members."
But Opposition members were angered by the Works Minister's unwillingness to outrightly admit he was wrong.
Mr. Charles, who moved the censure motion, said he was dissatisfied with the content of the minister's statement and rejected House Speaker Michael Peart's suggestion that the matter could be put to rest without debating the censure motion.
