Not True: House Speaker says Golding was not blocked from tabling Crown Lands bill

House Speaker Juliet Holness has rejected accusations that she twice blocked Opposition Leader Mark Golding from introducing a private member’s bill to amend the Crown Lands Reform Act during the last term of Parliament.

Speaking on Sunday at the People’s National Party’s (PNP) annual conference in Savanna-La-Mar, Westmoreland, Golding said he made two attempts to have the bill officially tabled in Parliament before the summer recess in July, but asserted he was blocked from doing so by the Speaker of the House.

Among other things, Golding wants to see the law changed to reduce the qualifying period for Jamaicans illegally occupying Crown lands from 60 to 25 years.

However, Holness, in her opening address as Parliament resumed this afternoon, insisted that the claims that Golding was blocked are not true.

According to her, the Opposition Leader was advised that two sections in the bill had been identified as raising constitutional concerns following legal advice from Parliament's legal counsel.

The revisions were submitted near midnight on July 13, but there were further issues, according to the House Speaker.

“Following review, two concerns were resolved; one remained unresolved, that is, one relating to section 55(3) of the Constitution of Jamaica. He was advised of the remaining concern and of the change required to address it. That change had not been made when the House sat on the following day, July 14th, and the matter was therefore left to continue upon our return. I have since noted public statements made by the Leader of the Opposition on two occasions that he was blocked by the Speaker from tabling the bill. That is not true. The Speaker expressed no view on the merits of the proposed bill,” the Speaker told the House.

The Speaker insisted that members must be accurate with their criticisms.

“Members, we are entitled to disagree, challenge, and criticise decisions of the Speaker. But criticism must be based on an accurate account of what occurred. Where material facts are omitted and the proper discharge of constitutional responsibility is presented as political interference, there is a risk of undermining the public confidence in the very Parliament itself. That must concern every single one of us on both sides. Robust debate and political disagreement are part of parliamentary democracy. But so too are respect for the Constitution, respect for the parliamentary record, and respect for the institution. Where the proceedings of this House are materially mischaracterized, the Chair will correct the record,” she said.

Holness insisted that the records, including emails and all communications, will outline what transpired.

An attempt by the Opposition Leader to respond to her statements was blocked as he was reminded that the Standing Orders do not allow him to respond to statements by the Speaker at that juncture.

The Speaker indicated that Golding could respond when the House deals with public business on the agenda.

- Karen Madden

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