Dear Editor,
Allow me the space to convey some thoughts to the Chairlady of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams, with the hope that she will use wisdom whenever these public meetings are being scheduled. In my view, the main purpose of conducting open discussions is to keep the public abreast of what is happening within government and to hold ministers responsible for their respective ministries. Therefore, the deliberations should be designed to benefit the wider community.
This means that the Chairlady needs to be cognizant of the factors that will determine the flow or snags of the meetings and the value of the information to the population – factors like time, whether ample or insufficient; synergy; momentum and relevance. These comments relate to all deliberations, but particularly the one on health that took place last Friday. What would be the consequence, if the 9:30am discussion was scheduled earlier in the week, and the 11am meeting booked at 9:00am?
I was very disappointed when the meeting with the Health Minister halted abruptly. Since Hurricane Irma, it was the very first time that I had the opportunity to listen to a parliamentary discussion for 3 hours non-stop. It must be noted that many of us are still without cable and internet, which makes it difficult to stay abreast of the meetings. And since Pearl FM does not rebroadcast the discussions in the evenings anymore, it’s even worse.
Ending a meeting prematurely does not do justice to the population at all. It not only breaks the momentum and synergy but frustrates the listeners as well. Chairlady, it’s not about how many meetings can be crammed within a given week; it’s about being effective. This consistent back and forth with ministers is pointless, especially when there is no resolve. Hence, I would have preferred if the Director of SZV was summoned to Parliament to answer these critical questions, instead of a minister who is repeating the same thing year after year.
From the questions posed, it is obvious that the presentation by the Minister of Health has become obsolete; not just for the MP’s, but the public as well. I must say that is was the very first time that MP Tamara Leonard got my attention. She asked some very pertinent questions. In fact, all speakers spoke from a place of inquisition, rather than just rattling off senseless information.
Back to the matter of scheduling: it is not feasible to have two heavy portfolios like Health and Education scheduled on the same day. One is bound to overshadow the other or neither will be debated adequately. Given the level of discussion that transpired during the meeting with the Health Minister, why didn’t the Chairlady postpone or push forward the 3:00pm meeting to accommodate the 5 remaining speakers?
As is obvious, too many discussions are crammed in one week and this format of booking meetings every other week is not effective either. It gives MPs and Ministers time to play hide and seek. As a result, Parliament has become like a revolving object. Meetings should be scheduled on demand, to maintain the synergy and to keep the information current for easy reference.
On various occasions we have seen the Governor summon a minister to his cabinet, even when that same minister had to be in Parliament to give a presentation. Interestingly, that minister dropped everything and adhered to the Governor’s request. How is it that the minister’s attitude becomes different, when Parliament extends an invitation to address the people?
Resolve: Parliament has to set the agenda for ministers and not the reverse (as is the case). This includes stipulating the time when they must return to answer to the people. A period of 10 days should be sufficient. It means that after each report, ministers and the population will be informed of the follow-up date. This system forces Members of the Council to get serious with the “People’s Business,” and the public too can schedule their time ahead of the next meeting.
Chairlady, the ball is in your court. Strive to revive that energy of collaboration that once permeated the atmosphere within Parliament. In addition, if parliament is to be more effective, consider eliminating the ministers’ choice that determine when (length of time) and what time (time of day) they return to give an account to the people!
Joslyn Morton
