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Thursday, 30 October 2008 
The Parliamentary Opposition is formulating a plan to force the Government to provide a full explanation on the sacking of the Board of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }With the country still in the dark on the circumstances that led to the Board being fired nearly three weeks ago, the People's National Party (PNP) says it is obliged to turn up the heat on the Bruce Golding administration to provide an explanation.
The Opposition is preparing to go to Parliament with a list of questions on what happened at the UDC.
According to PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill, the Party has received information that raises more questions regarding the Government's silence on the matter.
"We too are very concerned that all we're hearing is lack of performance ... there are many more questions than answers and we will be pursuing the matter because the UDC board is a very important board, the entire board has been fired and a new chairman has been named and we can't seem to ascertain what has happened ... in the meantime, we will be asking questions either in or out of Parliament," he said.
PM skirts public's question on UDC board firing
Meanwhile Prime Minister Bruce Golding night failed to shed light on the firing of the UDC Board during his monthly radio call in programme "Jamaica House Live" on Wednesday.
One of the callers to the 90-minute programme posed a question to the Prime Minister concerning the dismissal of the Board.
The caller expressed concern that no information was forthcoming from the administration on the matter.
After the caller hung up, Mr. Golding skirted the issue and proceeded to discuss other issues.
On Monday, news emerged in the media that businessman Wayne Chen had been asked to serve as the new Chairman of the UDC.
On Wednesday, Information Minister Olivia ‘Babsy' Grange confirmed Mr. Chen's appointment.
She however struggled to fend off tough questions surrounding the sacking of the Board.
It was disclosed that Cabinet will on Monday discuss the appointment of a new Board for the UDC.
‘Cat and mouse' business inappropriate - Smith
And the Government is facing more criticism for not being transparent in some of its actions.
Opposition Spokesman on the Public Service, Natalie Neita-Headley says she is concerned about the breakdown in the Government's lines of communication.
"This Government came to power on the premise that there would be absolute transparency, probity, communication, the press' dream in the way the Prime Minister had indicated that there was going to be a high level of communication ... we have seen the absolute reverse ... in many of the situations, we're seeing that much of what was promised is not being delivered," she said.
Political Commentator Lloyd B. Smith says the Government appears to have become withdrawn from the public since assuming office.
"... and it doesn't speak well of Mr. Golding's Ministerial image because coming from his NDM (National Democratic Movement) days, he was seen as advocate for that type of transparency, accountability, of communicating with the public at all times and keeping the general citizenry informed of any major Government decisions ... surely this dodge and seek, cat and mouse business is not appropriate," said Mr. Smith who was speaking on RJR's daily current affairs discussion programme Beyond the Headlines on Wednesday.
The Parliamentary Opposition is formulating a plan to force the Government to provide a full explanation on the sacking of the Board of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }With the country still in the dark on the circumstances that led to the Board being fired nearly three weeks ago, the People's National Party (PNP) says it is obliged to turn up the heat on the Bruce Golding administration to provide an explanation.
The Opposition is preparing to go to Parliament with a list of questions on what happened at the UDC.
According to PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill, the Party has received information that raises more questions regarding the Government's silence on the matter. "We too are very concerned that all we're hearing is lack of performance ... there are many more questions than answers and we will be pursuing the matter because the UDC board is a very important board, the entire board has been fired and a new chairman has been named and we can't seem to ascertain what has happened ... in the meantime, we will be asking questions either in or out of Parliament," he said.
PM skirts public's question on UDC board firing
Meanwhile Prime Minister Bruce Golding night failed to shed light on the firing of the UDC Board during his monthly radio call in programme "Jamaica House Live" on Wednesday.One of the callers to the 90-minute programme posed a question to the Prime Minister concerning the dismissal of the Board.
The caller expressed concern that no information was forthcoming from the administration on the matter.
After the caller hung up, Mr. Golding skirted the issue and proceeded to discuss other issues.
On Monday, news emerged in the media that businessman Wayne Chen had been asked to serve as the new Chairman of the UDC.
On Wednesday, Information Minister Olivia ‘Babsy' Grange confirmed Mr. Chen's appointment.
She however struggled to fend off tough questions surrounding the sacking of the Board.
It was disclosed that Cabinet will on Monday discuss the appointment of a new Board for the UDC.
‘Cat and mouse' business inappropriate - Smith
And the Government is facing more criticism for not being transparent in some of its actions.
Opposition Spokesman on the Public Service, Natalie Neita-Headley says she is concerned about the breakdown in the Government's lines of communication."This Government came to power on the premise that there would be absolute transparency, probity, communication, the press' dream in the way the Prime Minister had indicated that there was going to be a high level of communication ... we have seen the absolute reverse ... in many of the situations, we're seeing that much of what was promised is not being delivered," she said.
Political Commentator Lloyd B. Smith says the Government appears to have become withdrawn from the public since assuming office.
"... and it doesn't speak well of Mr. Golding's Ministerial image because coming from his NDM (National Democratic Movement) days, he was seen as advocate for that type of transparency, accountability, of communicating with the public at all times and keeping the general citizenry informed of any major Government decisions ... surely this dodge and seek, cat and mouse business is not appropriate," said Mr. Smith who was speaking on RJR's daily current affairs discussion programme Beyond the Headlines on Wednesday.