(Jamaica Gleaner) Parliamentarians traded bitter insults in Gordon House yesterday during a heated debate on the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP), which later triggered a walkout by the parliamentary Opposition.
Tempers flared intermittently during an examination of the expenditure for the JDIP which extended for hours. At one point, Opposition Spokesman on Finance Dr Omar Davies and Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles clashed in a shouting match.
“When you were crawling on your knees to beg …,” Davies said of Charles.
The minister, infuriated by Davies’ assertion, challenged him to leave the protected chambers of Gordon House and repeat his claim on the outside.
Anger reached boiling point and both men had to be restrained by their colleagues.
An uproar among members then ensued, which forced chairman of the Standing Finance Committee, Delroy Chuck, to call an early lunch break.
Later during the sitting, the Opposition packed their bags and exited the chambers after another sharp exchange between Davies and a government member of parliament.
Davies had insisted that the J$8 billion listed in the Jamaica Public Bodies for work under JDIP should be outlined in Capital B in the Estimates of Expenditure.
He said the Opposition could not sign off on the spending of such a huge sum that has been “concealed”.
“How can we have this farce of the only reference of the JDIP being J$750 million when the Government is voting for an expenditure of more than J$8 billion. This is an attempt to conceal,” Davies contended.
However, this claim by Davies was rubbished by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry and Finance and the Public Service Minister Audley Shaw.
Golding, who appeared late in the day, accused the former administration of placing big-ticket items outside of the estimates during its tenure in government.
“To suggest that this is an aberration is to shut the door on history,” he said.
According to Golding, the loan for the JDIP was routed through the Road Maintenance Fund (RMF) with a guarantee from the Government.
He said committees of parliament, such as the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee, could summon public bodies to provide details on any project.
Golding dismissed the claim that the administration was seeking to hide the expenditure for the JDIP from the public.
The amount set out in the Estimates of Expenditure for JDIP is J$750 million. This represents the Government’s 15 per cent contribution to the programme this fiscal year.
However, Davies demanded more, saying: “We need to know how contractors are being selected. We need to know that in this expenditure there is value for money.”
The former finance minister accused the Government of using the RMF as a “conduit” to borrow money that it could not repay.
Shaw hit back, saying if there was a shortfall in servicing the loan to the China Ex-Im Bank, the Government would step in with its guarantee.
“We reserve the right to transfer from the Consolidated Fund to support the RMF,” Shaw added.
He said the former minister’s case was not convincing, as there was “absolute transparency” in the allocation and spending of JDIP funds.
Before the Opposition walked out, Davies apologised to Charles for his earlier comment.
The implementation of the US$400-million JDIP has been shrouded in controversy.
The Chinese government, through its Export Import (Ex-Im) Bank, made the funds available to the RMF to carry out repairs to roads islandwide. The programme extends over a five-year period.
