End practice of MPs distributing state resources to constituents - Barrett

 

Social commentator Germaine Barrett is calling for an end to the practice of members of Parliament being given state resources to distribute to their constituents. 

 

This follows a report by the Auditor General's Department, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, which shows that the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) was not able to verify that tens of millions of dollars worth of fertiliser allocated to MPs for onward distribution actually reached the intended farmers. 

 

Speaking Thursday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106 FM, Mr. Barrett stressed that the practice of MPs distributing resources to constituents gives them too much control over the people. He further argued that it makes the people continually subservant to their MPs, and this is wrong. 

 

As a result, Mr. Barrett wants the government to abolish any programme that distributes resources through MPs, such as the Constituency Development Fund.

 

"The fact that we had at that time to connect with members of Parliament to do this distribution of state resources, which is not fundamentally their responsibility, quite frankly, is, I think, unfortunate. It was unfortunate then, and it is still unfortunate now. Here we are seeing evidence of that arrangement not working inasmuch as we cannot give account to the distribution of resources that the people of Jamaica have and ought to be distributed appropriately. So it's just really, really messy. And I can't say with any stronger words here, how important it is that we fix this and we fix this now," he demanded.

 

The performance audit evaluated RADA's efficiency and effectiveness in administering the Production Incentive Programme. The programme was designed to enhance agricultural productivity, food security, income generation, foreign exchange earnings and rural development.

 

RADA says it will be submitting supporting documents to the Auditor General's Department to show how the fertiliser was distributed. The agency explained that the information was not readily available at the time of the audit.

 

Mr. Barrett believes the findings of the performance audit report on RADA highlight the need for job descriptions for MPs to improve accountability.

"Can you imagine we employ these members of Parliament to work for us, but these members of Parliament are allowed to do whatever they want, quite frankly, because there is nothing to govern and to guide their action with respect to what it is that we employ them to do. It is absolutely crazy," he said, as he demanded that the promise of having job descriptions for MPs be kept, especially as the country heads into another parliamentary election this year.

On Tuesday, Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives Edmund Bartlett, tabled the motion for the creation of the Joint Select Committee to consider the Green Paper on Job Descriptions for MPs and Cabinet Ministers.

It was tabled in the House of Representatives in 2023 after a promise by Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness that there would be greater accountability for MPs.

Meanwhile, the Auditor General's Department assessed the allotment of fertiliser to members of Parliament that was donated by the Kingdom of Morocco.

In its performance audit report, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the Department said RADA asserted that government and opposition MPs received an equal allotment of fertiliser with each reported receiving 100 bags.

But Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis said RADA provided records indicating that in many cases, some MPs received more than 100 bags while others received less.

RADA confirmed that nine MPs from the opposition qualified for the allotment while 37 government MPs were qualified.

Fertiliser was allotted to MPs in all parishes except Kingston.

According to RADA, special allotments were made for the Agriculture Minister, State Minister, former Minister of Agriculture and the opposition spokesperson on Agriculture. It said the special allocations were done due to the significant number of requests received while performing their duties, the size of the agricultural base in their areas, and the negative effects of Tropical Cyclone 22 in 2023.

RADA added that all MPs coordinated the collection, storage and distribution of the fertiliser, regardless of political affiliation.

The Auditor General noted that the Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture, who is not a member of Parliament but a caretaker, was allotted 50 bags of fertiliser. But RADA's protocol does not provide for an allocation of supplies to caretakers.