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Misuse of PM's powers
published: Wednesday | September 20, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Delroy Chuck
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller must be carefully watched and con-trolled. The enormous powers vested in her can be easily misused and abused, which is one of the great weaknesses of our constitutional arrangement. The PM feels that one of her duties is to use the powers of her office to funnel scarce resources to fix her constituency, which she alleges could not be done before. Where does that leave the other 59 Members of Parliament?
When the PM asserts, as reported, that: "I have now gotten the chance and I'm going to do whatever I can do for South West St. Andrew; I now don't have to beg that things are done. Now I instruct that things are done," as a Member of Parliament, I think this is a frightening develop-ment. I have no doubt that Ministers do use their offices to assist their constituencies but for the PM to openly express her intention to divert the nation's resources to her constituency smacks of dictatorial governance. Poor, poor, Opposition MPs, how do they survive?
Lamentation
In truth, Prime Minister Simpson Miller was merely lamenting her failure as a parliamentary represen-tative and her failure to lift her constituency from the bowels of grime, idleness and poverty. If the PM is correct, should the remaining 59 MPs wait until they become PM to do something for their consti-tuencies? And, what about other constituencies, such as Central Kingston, which suffer from similar deprivation, deficiency and dreadful hardships as South West St. Andrew? When will this PNP administration ever learn that government handouts and distribution of largesse ultimately aggravate instead of reduce poverty, unemployment and mendicancy? The people of South West St. Andrew and Jamaica want employment and opportunities to improve their lives, instead of reliance and dependence on politicians.
Actually, on Sunday, I walked a fair amount of Central Kingston, along with Bruce Golding and a JLP team. And, oh my God, I never realised that Kingston had sunk to such low levels. On Tower Street, in the vicinity of the General Peni-tentiary, rubbish and sewage overflow on the sidewalks and streets. Behind the Ministry of Finance, where I attended St. Matthew's Church, the roads are a total disgrace and most of the tenement yards have seen much better days. How could a consti-tuency that has perennially voted for the PNP be so abandoned, neglected and denied?
At the same time, compare what Edward Seaga, Andrew Holness, other JLP MPs, and even myself have achieved while we are in Opposition. Edward Seaga used JSIF and private funds to build a beautiful Denham Town community centre. Andrew Holness built a wonderful com-munity educational edifice where residents can improve their skills, inclusive of computer classes and HEART training. In North East St. Andrew, so much has been achieved. We have removed many zinc fences and replaced them with concrete walls, built sidewalks on Liguanea Avenue, Upper Waterloo Road, Acadia, and within the inner-city communities. Where some residents hitherto bathed in the open, bathroom facilities have been built to provide privacy and, throughout the innercities of NE St. Andrew, enough toilet facilities have been provided during the past five or so years.
Imaginative planning needed
Only recently, I successfully appealed to JSIF to replace community mud paths with attractive asphalted roads, for inner-city residents to enter and leave their homes without having to walk through slippery mud pools or face dust bowls - this idea, with funds from the World Bank, is likely
Misuse of PM's powers
published: Wednesday | September 20, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Delroy Chuck
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller must be carefully watched and con-trolled. The enormous powers vested in her can be easily misused and abused, which is one of the great weaknesses of our constitutional arrangement. The PM feels that one of her duties is to use the powers of her office to funnel scarce resources to fix her constituency, which she alleges could not be done before. Where does that leave the other 59 Members of Parliament?
When the PM asserts, as reported, that: "I have now gotten the chance and I'm going to do whatever I can do for South West St. Andrew; I now don't have to beg that things are done. Now I instruct that things are done," as a Member of Parliament, I think this is a frightening develop-ment. I have no doubt that Ministers do use their offices to assist their constituencies but for the PM to openly express her intention to divert the nation's resources to her constituency smacks of dictatorial governance. Poor, poor, Opposition MPs, how do they survive?
Lamentation
In truth, Prime Minister Simpson Miller was merely lamenting her failure as a parliamentary represen-tative and her failure to lift her constituency from the bowels of grime, idleness and poverty. If the PM is correct, should the remaining 59 MPs wait until they become PM to do something for their consti-tuencies? And, what about other constituencies, such as Central Kingston, which suffer from similar deprivation, deficiency and dreadful hardships as South West St. Andrew? When will this PNP administration ever learn that government handouts and distribution of largesse ultimately aggravate instead of reduce poverty, unemployment and mendicancy? The people of South West St. Andrew and Jamaica want employment and opportunities to improve their lives, instead of reliance and dependence on politicians.
Actually, on Sunday, I walked a fair amount of Central Kingston, along with Bruce Golding and a JLP team. And, oh my God, I never realised that Kingston had sunk to such low levels. On Tower Street, in the vicinity of the General Peni-tentiary, rubbish and sewage overflow on the sidewalks and streets. Behind the Ministry of Finance, where I attended St. Matthew's Church, the roads are a total disgrace and most of the tenement yards have seen much better days. How could a consti-tuency that has perennially voted for the PNP be so abandoned, neglected and denied?
At the same time, compare what Edward Seaga, Andrew Holness, other JLP MPs, and even myself have achieved while we are in Opposition. Edward Seaga used JSIF and private funds to build a beautiful Denham Town community centre. Andrew Holness built a wonderful com-munity educational edifice where residents can improve their skills, inclusive of computer classes and HEART training. In North East St. Andrew, so much has been achieved. We have removed many zinc fences and replaced them with concrete walls, built sidewalks on Liguanea Avenue, Upper Waterloo Road, Acadia, and within the inner-city communities. Where some residents hitherto bathed in the open, bathroom facilities have been built to provide privacy and, throughout the innercities of NE St. Andrew, enough toilet facilities have been provided during the past five or so years.
Imaginative planning needed
Only recently, I successfully appealed to JSIF to replace community mud paths with attractive asphalted roads, for inner-city residents to enter and leave their homes without having to walk through slippery mud pools or face dust bowls - this idea, with funds from the World Bank, is likely
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