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Erica Virtue, Senior Gleaner Writer
Opposition Leader Andrew Holness has omitted former Minister of Transport and Works Lester 'Mike' Henry from the 16-member spokesperson team he announced yesterday, while also relegating two other former ministers to sole roles as committee chairmen.
Holness, during a press conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader in St Andrew yesterday, named a slate of old faces, 12 of whom were ministers in the former Jamaica Labour Party administration.
Speaking to Henry's omission, Holness said after careful thought and consideration, no place was found for Henry who will turn 77 this year and who, after arriving in the House of Representatives in 1980, is the longest continuously serving member of parliament.
"All our shadow spokespersons will have an area of advocacy that they will promote, that they will carry. And these will be representatives of the policies of our future government," Holness said. "The spokesperson will have a public education role, and that's very important in reconnecting to our base," Holness told journalists and spokespersons who attended the mid-morning press briefing.
According to the opposition leader: "It's clear from the last election and the last government that we had good policies, that we had very good intentions with those policies, but we needed to have taken the time to educate the public and our base about these policies, so that they themselves would believe and understand what it is that the government was trying to do."
Jdip audit
The much-publicised Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP), which was under Henry's portfolio and which is aimed at rehabilitating the country's road network infrastructure, suffered unflattering findings after a probe by the Auditor General's Department.
Reports of disharmony between Henry and the leadership of the party have been making the rounds since the release of the report and Henry's subsequent resignation as minister.
Reports reaching The Gleaner are that Henry is furious at his omission and, when The Gleaner spoke with him, he was meeting with his constituency management committee to discuss the issue and that of local government elections.
"I have always been an independent-minded person and I speak freely as the people's representative from Central Clarendon," Henry said. "I have noted my omission from the shadow Cabinet and it is the issue that will be discussed at this meeting. If it is the wish of the constituents that I accept the present situation, I will be guided by them as I always have."
Assessing future as chairman
Asked about his future as chairman of the party, he said that would also be put to the meeting "and a decision will be communicated in the coming days".
Addressing the JDIP issue, Henry said he would be speaking publicly on the matter through his role "as an elected representative, as "the issue will not die anytime soon".
Henry said he has suffered long and hard for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and "my memoirs will be coming soon, warts and all".
Meanwhile, self-proclaimed 'African chief' Pearnel Charles, the former minister of labour and social security, as well as former Health Minister Rudyard Spencer were only given posts as chairmen of the committees on human resource and social development, and infrastructure and physical development, respectively.
The other chairmen include Audley Shaw, who will chair the Public Accounts Committee; Edmund Bartlett - the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee; Everald Warmington - the committee on economy and production; and Derrick Smith - the Internal and External Affairs committee.
erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com
Audley Shaw - Finance, planning, growth and economic development
Delroy Chuck - Justice, national security, electoral matters and leader of government business in the House
Arthur Williams - Information, public service and labour/ leader of opposition business in the Senate
Kenneth Baugh - Health and quality of life
Karl Samuda - Transport and works and infrastructure development
Edmund Bartlett - Tourism and travel service development
J.C. Hutchinson - Agriculture, mining and natural resource use
Daryl Vaz - ICT and digital society development
Horace Chang - Housing, water and environment
Shahine Robinson - Social security and poverty reduction
Gregory Mair - Industry, commerce and energy
Olivia Grange - Youth, sports, gender affairs, entertainment and culture
Desmond McKenzie - Urban renewal, rural development and local government
Christopher Tufton - Foreign affairs, foreign trade and investment
Marisa Dalrymple- Philibert - Education and human resource development
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...ead/lead1.html
Opposition Leader Andrew Holness has omitted former Minister of Transport and Works Lester 'Mike' Henry from the 16-member spokesperson team he announced yesterday, while also relegating two other former ministers to sole roles as committee chairmen.
Holness, during a press conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader in St Andrew yesterday, named a slate of old faces, 12 of whom were ministers in the former Jamaica Labour Party administration.
Speaking to Henry's omission, Holness said after careful thought and consideration, no place was found for Henry who will turn 77 this year and who, after arriving in the House of Representatives in 1980, is the longest continuously serving member of parliament.
"All our shadow spokespersons will have an area of advocacy that they will promote, that they will carry. And these will be representatives of the policies of our future government," Holness said. "The spokesperson will have a public education role, and that's very important in reconnecting to our base," Holness told journalists and spokespersons who attended the mid-morning press briefing.
According to the opposition leader: "It's clear from the last election and the last government that we had good policies, that we had very good intentions with those policies, but we needed to have taken the time to educate the public and our base about these policies, so that they themselves would believe and understand what it is that the government was trying to do."
Jdip audit
The much-publicised Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP), which was under Henry's portfolio and which is aimed at rehabilitating the country's road network infrastructure, suffered unflattering findings after a probe by the Auditor General's Department.
Reports of disharmony between Henry and the leadership of the party have been making the rounds since the release of the report and Henry's subsequent resignation as minister.
Reports reaching The Gleaner are that Henry is furious at his omission and, when The Gleaner spoke with him, he was meeting with his constituency management committee to discuss the issue and that of local government elections.
"I have always been an independent-minded person and I speak freely as the people's representative from Central Clarendon," Henry said. "I have noted my omission from the shadow Cabinet and it is the issue that will be discussed at this meeting. If it is the wish of the constituents that I accept the present situation, I will be guided by them as I always have."
Assessing future as chairman
Asked about his future as chairman of the party, he said that would also be put to the meeting "and a decision will be communicated in the coming days".
Addressing the JDIP issue, Henry said he would be speaking publicly on the matter through his role "as an elected representative, as "the issue will not die anytime soon".
Henry said he has suffered long and hard for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and "my memoirs will be coming soon, warts and all".
Meanwhile, self-proclaimed 'African chief' Pearnel Charles, the former minister of labour and social security, as well as former Health Minister Rudyard Spencer were only given posts as chairmen of the committees on human resource and social development, and infrastructure and physical development, respectively.
The other chairmen include Audley Shaw, who will chair the Public Accounts Committee; Edmund Bartlett - the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee; Everald Warmington - the committee on economy and production; and Derrick Smith - the Internal and External Affairs committee.
erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com
Audley Shaw - Finance, planning, growth and economic development
Delroy Chuck - Justice, national security, electoral matters and leader of government business in the House
Arthur Williams - Information, public service and labour/ leader of opposition business in the Senate
Kenneth Baugh - Health and quality of life
Karl Samuda - Transport and works and infrastructure development
Edmund Bartlett - Tourism and travel service development
J.C. Hutchinson - Agriculture, mining and natural resource use
Daryl Vaz - ICT and digital society development
Horace Chang - Housing, water and environment
Shahine Robinson - Social security and poverty reduction
Gregory Mair - Industry, commerce and energy
Olivia Grange - Youth, sports, gender affairs, entertainment and culture
Desmond McKenzie - Urban renewal, rural development and local government
Christopher Tufton - Foreign affairs, foreign trade and investment
Marisa Dalrymple- Philibert - Education and human resource development
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...ead/lead1.html
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