‘No more Santa Claus business!’
Published:Saturday | November 13, 2021 | 12:06 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
SUGGESTING THAT Jamaica’s legislative agenda has been crawling while other countries have been modernising, Lisa Hanna, the People’s National Party (PNP) member of parliament (MP) for South East St Ann, is advocating a raft of changes to get the country up to speed with the international community.
“While many countries have modernised so much of how they do things since the pandemic, the most we’ve done is advocate for extended CARE stimulus packages, passing new Road Traffic and the Sexual Harassment bills, among others. These are important to be sure, but they don’t impact or better the ‘bread and butter’ everyday living conditions of the people of my constituency,” Hanna stated as she made her presentation in the State of the Constituency Debate in Parliament on Tuesday.
Questioning what their legacy will be, if it will be based on the number of food packages given out or the funerals attended, or bags of fertilizers given out to farmers, Hanna said it is time to define what should be the purpose of members of parliament.
“The role of MPs to the Jamaican people is as clear as mud, and it’s time we define what ought to be our purpose. We are no longer respected by the people and this is obvious in the way we are spoken to or spoken about.”
“It’s time; no more Santa Claus business,” Hanna suggested, as she outlined a list of things that are important and need to be addressed.
The list includes women’s rights and the move to republic status, which she said has been promised “for so long”.
“It’s time to provide water to our people and move away from the pail pan culture in rural areas. It’s time to critically assess how we have been educating our children to compete in a global world amid the pandemic. It’s time to reform our prison system and look at punishments ascribed to certain crimes and institute more laws to protect our people,” Hanna stated.
The MP said the Sexual Offences Act should be reformed to grant the public access to the Sex Offenders list, and pass the National Assistance Bill to replace the Poor Relief Act of 1886.
She added that we need to be proactive and give personal tax credits, incentives and subsidies to Jamaicans to protect our environment with less CO2 emissions; and replace the old Burial and Cremation Act of 1963 “with modern funeral home regulations to ensure consumers at all levels are protected while getting value for money”.
Hanna continued: “It’s time to raise the minimum wage to a liveable wage for Jamaicans to be able to eat and take care of themselves and their families. It’s time to break the monopolies that create high electricity bills. It’s time we debate the motion I tabled in here in February for methods of achieving a fundamental mindset shift to structurally transform Jamaica’s economy into an internationally competitive value-added export country, focusing on products and services in which we can identify a global competitive advantage.”
“Yes, Madam Speaker, it is time to be courageous in our legislative decisions and step away from the Santa Claus status we taken on,” she added.