Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 13, 2016 News
By Jarryl Bryan
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, has called on the opposition to put aside politicking, to stop griping
and to come to the table with any recommendations they may have, in the interest of the National Assembly.
During yesterday’s session in the National Assembly, Harmon stated that rather than provide recommendations from their years in office, they have simply been pandering to certain sections of the population.
“Where are the recommendations emanating from your 23 years experience in office,” Harmon queried. “We ask, as a responsible Opposition, (that) you don’t just gripe…Come to the table and let’s talk.”
“Having the honour and privilege of speaking on the last day of this debate gives one a perspective of the debate from both sides of the House.”
“(And) so while on the Government side my colleagues have set a clear vision of how the budget will impact and how they will execute programmes in their respective sectors I hear save and except a few pure and simple criticisms.”
He noted that “much meal” is made out of the situation at Wales Estate. He stated that the Leader of the Opposition went on TV outlining a plan which he had.
“The Government’s response to the Honourable Leader of the Opposition was and is, let’s meet and talk. (But I’m) still waiting.”
“While some gripe, we have a nation to build and in a global environment where there is serious competition for investment funds for development. We have to be clear in this National Assembly of the messages which we send to the world.”
However, Harmon’s statements did not go down well with the opposition, who catcalled that the Government should have actually extended an invitation. One parliamentarian even referenced a particular plan that had been recommended by them to the Minister of Agriculture.
For budget 2016, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, had said that consultations were held with various stakeholders on the budget. However, when it comes to consultations with the political opposition, the Finance Minister had said that this did not go according to what was planned.
Jordan had said that he did as instructed and that was to invite the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) to discussions. Jordan said that the PPP, instead of accepting the invite, laid out a number of conditions which should be met before the meeting.
“The opposition replied to my invitation saying that before they meet with us for discussions on the budget, they want a number of documents. These are documents which we don’t even have,” Jordan said.
“Plus, they said that they want to speak on a number of matters, particularly as these relate to the restoration of a number of PPP projects and initiatives.”
“That is not how it is done,” Jordan had said. “They want certain conditions before real talk on the 2016 budget can begin but we intend to push forward. My door is always open to them.”
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