Richard Azan
Supporters of Richard Azan, the embattled Member of Parliament from the constituency of North West Clarendon, on Friday stepped up calls for him to be reinstated as State Minister, in the Ministry of Transport and Works.
On Thursday, Azan was cleared of wrongdoing by the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Spalding Market affair and on Friday several supporters gathered in front of the market, demanding his re-instatement by Prime Minister Portia Simpson- Miller.
“I am here to support Minister Richard Azan who is one of those Members of Parliament who you can be proud of - for a very long time we have not seen a Minister and Member of Parliament of this caliber we are here this morning in support of Mr. Azan who is our 24 hour MP , that’s how we classify him . We are here to let Jamaica know we want him to be reinstated like right now; if there is any superhero here in Jamaica – Richard Azan is the man” said supports of Azan.
The youth organization of the ruling People's National Party's (PNPYO), has also called for the Prime Minister to immediately reinstate Azan.
Alric Campbell, PNPYO President, says, this is despite recognising that there were procedural breaches.
“It is clear as far as we are concerned that the structure did not have the approval of the Clarendon parish council and so that would have been a breech in procedure but given his attempt and that nothing was found to be criminal, we are saying that he should be reinstated”
On the other hand local civic groups have dismissed the calls for the reinstatement of the State Minister.The National Integrity Action (NIA) is one such group.
Nadya Figuroe, the Deputy Director for External Affairs at the NIA argues that the fact that Azan was cleared of a criminal act doesn't mean that rules weren't broken in the construction of the shops.
“For instance you can think of many Jamaicans who lose their jobs and their livelihood for matters that have very little to do with criminality , it could be that they have breeched rules, it could be that they are negligent of their roles…. In this case where we have an instance in which clearly rules and procedures of a public institution were broken, are we saying this is ok ? For NIA – absolutely not!” she said.
The Jamaica Civil Society Coalition (JCSC) has also dismissed the calls and urged the Prime Minister to resist reinstating Azan in the interest of good governance.
Meanwhile Mayor of May Pen Scean Barnswell is also getting support from several vendors in the town, who staged a protest and stated that that they saw no reason for r Barnswell's dismissal.
The protesters said the mayor did not commit an offence which warrants him to be disciplined and so they stand in solidarity with him.
The demonstration was held following calls by the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) for Barnswell to resign.
The Director of Public Prosecutions had determined that there is clear evidentiary material to institute criminal proceedings against Barnswell for attempting to mislead the Contractor-General during his investigation.
All feeds
