Opposition members chastise Clarke cover ‘intemperate’ outburst at PAAC

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Heroy Clarke received a sharp rebuke from his colleagues last Wednesday for disrupting the proceedings of an oversight committee with “intemperate” remarks.

Clarke, a third-term member of parliament (MP), was seemingly agitated by questions posed to the National Water Commission on infrastructure-related matters. He indicated that such queries were misplaced and should be directed to the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee.

The NWC appeared before the committee on Wednesday to field questions on recovery efforts post-Hurricane Melissa.

Clarke was also peeved about questions raised by Opposition committee member Nekeisha Burchell regarding money owed to individuals who allegedly carried out work in December for the Social Development Commission and had not yet been paid.

In a quick response, Burchell accused Clarke of narrowly restraining the focus of the committee with his “intemperate interjections”.

She also chided Clarke for not allowing the chairman of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC), Peter Bunting, to adjudicate the meeting.

“I understand that not all of us had the kind of upbringing that would allow us to understand that when others are speaking you stay quiet and allow them, but respect is something that must be given if we expect to receive it,” she said.

Burchell had raised the question as part of a discussion that started with the disclosure, by Bunting, that the committee’s consultant had not been paid since December last year.

Bunting charged that the situation was untenable and that the consultant had written to the clerk to the Houses of Parliament, Colleen Lowe, to express his displeasure with the delay in making the payment.

Legislative counsel Ashleigh Ximines told the committee that the consultant was paid for December, adding that he should resubmit an invoice for January for “vetting” and payment.

CLARKE’S DISGUST

However, Bunting cautioned Burchell that he did not want to conflate the failure to pay individuals by other public bodies with the non-payment of the PAAC consultant.

Despite Bunting’s intervention, Clarke continued with increasing decibel levels to register his disgust with Burchell’s comments.

While Wavell Hinds, another Opposition committee member, was posing questions, Clarke could be heard (off mic) shouting that he was going to disrupt the meeting.

The Deputy Speaker was also quickly corrected when he referenced the PAAC as “account and appropriation” instead of ‘administration’.

Arguing that questions about infrastructure should not be raised during the committee’s deliberations, Clarke said: “Let us focus on what PAAC is supposed to do and not what we think in our mind that we want to ask the technocrat across from us.”

However, Bunting noted that the committee had a wide remit and was not restricted to questions on appropriations only.

Omar Newell, first-term Opposition MP for St Mary Central, sought to address Clarke’s conduct, noting that “we cyah just bully and shout out to get our own way”.

He said if a member was going to indicate that the rules are not being followed, the lawmaker should highlight the rules that are being infringed.

Newell warned that certain types of behaviour could reinforce the view by many that lawmakers are not serious about the country’s business. He said it could also give credence to the perception that “crassness, crudeness and rudeness is the way to have your way”.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com