PAAC squabble over proposed boundary changes in Portmore
Published:Thursday | November 30, 2023 | 12:09 AM
Kimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
A QUESTION by opposition legislator Fitz Jackson about the origin of a proposal outlining boundary changes in Portmore from the Local Government Ministry triggered intense exchanges at yesterday’s meeting of the Public Administrations and Appropriations Committee (PAAC).
The fuss began after Jackson, the member of parliament for St Catherine Southern, which includes parts of Portmore, sought to get clarity from the ministry’s Permanent Secretary (PS), Marsha Henry-Martin, on a document submitted to the Portmore Municipal Corporation on the proposed boundary shift.
The lawmaker questioned whether Henry-Martin was mindful that the proposed shift would have “consequential changes” for existing constituency boundaries.
Jackson said that this is the remit of the Representation of the People Act and the electoral advisory committee of Parliament.
But calling the question “multifold”, Henry-Martin said that she was not prepared to answer since this was not among questions submitted to be discussed as part of the committee’s agenda.
Further, she said that the proposal stemmed from a technical review of the Electoral Office of Jamaica’s website, which has published documents of constituency boundaries.
“I’m not prepared to speak on the matter because I was not briefed that this is what would have been asked of me,” the senior technocrat said, adding that she was granting a courtesy by responding.
She requested that questions be submitted to which she would answer at another meeting.
Jackson agreed but insisted that Henry-Martin provide clarity on whether the proposal for the boundary change came from the ministry or the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ).
She subsequently pointed to several websites, including the EOJ’s, from which she said information had been gathered on “various” boundaries for Portmore.
The MP, not satisfied with or clear on the response, pressed the PS for clarity.
“My simple question at this point, that submission that went to Portmore Municipality from what I gather you (are) saying, any reference to the EOJ as to what is contained in that document was via the EOJ’s website and not out of any consultation or dialogue with the EOJ?” he questioned.
Henry-Martin answered in the affirmative, adding that existing files were also used.
But Jackson dismissed the latter part of her response, indicating that it was irrelevant to his question.
“The conversation was initiated using the best-placed map we saw based on what the various entities had before them,” Henry-Martin said.
The two subsequently engaged in crosstalk that was curtailed when PAAC Chairman Mikael Phillips intervened.
Jackson subsequently suggested that the permanent secretary had misunderstood him and the question for which he sought an answer.
“I’m making the point, Madam PS, if you will permit me, that I am not asking about the overall proposal for Portmore to become a parish. I was restricting my question exclusively and specifically to the proposed boundaries,” Jackson said.
“So I don’t care. I’m not asking about what everybody said and what everybody want. I wasn’t asking those questions. I’m simply asking [about] the proposed boundary proposal,” he said.
He stressed that he only wanted an update on how the ministry had arrived at the final proposal sent to the corporation in October 2022.
“Maybe it is hard to answer ,but that’s the question,” he said.
On a point of order, Government MP Dwight Sibblies told the committee that the exchanges between Jackson and Henry-Martin were unfair to other members who were not privy to the document being discussed.
He asked that the document be provided to the committee before further discussions.
“As it is now we are handicapped because we are not briefed with some reports that we are hearing. So respectfully, chair, I ask that this matter does not continue until the rest of this committee is so prepared,” he said.
But Jackson cautioned Phillips that acceding to Sibblies’ request would cause the committee to become “constricted and restricted” though the relevant authorities, which dealt with similar matters daily, were present.
Phillips agreed, noting that several questions asked earlier of senior personnel of the National Solid Waste Management Authority were never on the agenda.
He said that members were given leeway to ask questions and that if at any point they crossed a line, they were cautioned.
Further, he said that the PS was aware of the issue Jackson raised and so he would be allowed to continue with his questions.
However, Sibblies doubled down, repeating his point.
Phillips insisted that Jackson be allowed to continue, noting that members often researched points they wished to raise with guests even if others were not versed on the issue or topic.
But off microphone, Sibblies countered the position while being urged by Phillips to “be fair”.
Still, his “tirade” continued even as his microphone appeared to be muted.
“Member, will you calm down,” Phillips insisted.
But Sibblies continued to shout and insisted that he was being silenced, referencing his cut-off microphone.
“How am I going to do research before I come here when it is not part of the agenda?” he argued, continuing for at least five minutes.
St Ann North Western Member of Parliament Krystal Lee, who eventually had the floor, expressed discomfort with Jackson’s pressing of the PS who, she reiterated, was not prepared to answer the question.
Jackson agreed, noting that he was only seeking clarity on the questions Henry-Martin would be asked to respond to.
It was agreed that the questions would be submitted to the clerk to be dispatched to the PS’ office.
The Government is pushing to make Portmore Jamaica’s 15th parish but is being met with pushback from the Opposition.
Two weeks ago, Member of Parliament for St Catherine South Western Everald Warmington, while on a political platform, said that the expected boundary shift in Portmore would create a stronghold for the governing Jamaica Labour Party in the St Catherine East Central constituency.