Ombudsman's office must go - Warmington

Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter

SOUTH WEST St Catherine Member of Parliament (MP) Everald Warmington has suggested that the Office of the Political Ombudsman has outlived its relevance.

The opposition MP yesterday indicated that the role of the Office of the Political Ombudsman has been subsumed by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) and, therefore, should be declared redundant.

Warmington's motion contends that in "light of the creation and embodiment of the structures of the electoral process in a commission (Electoral Commission of Jamaica), the Office of the Political Ombudsman is declared redundant".

Citing the establishment of the Office of the Political Ombudsman as a Commission of Parliament, the controversial MP argued that "from all appearance, the original mandate of the political ombudsman has been met".

Time for review

In this regard, the opposition MP wants Parliament to review and revise the terms and objectives of the office to determine its relevance to the existing political structure.

He is also questioning whether the expenditure on the office is justified.

Warmington contended that with the current budgetary constraints, "the issue of value for money is raised, in that it now costs the Jamaican taxpayer $18.6 million annually to maintain the Office of the Political Ombudsman".

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com