Rhodd

East Portland Member of Parliament (MP) Donald Rhodd said the decision to break ranks with his party, which voted against the revised provisions for the Ministry of Transport and Works, was "a principled one".

"I think what I did was the right thing on behalf of the people I represent," Rhodd told The Gleaner yesterday.

The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) demanded a divide on the estimates for the ministry after deputy chair of the standing finance committee, Marissa Dalrymple Philibert, ruled against a question from Opposition spokes-person Robert Pickersgill.

People's interest more important

The divide, which was won by the governing side with 29 saying yes to the Opposition's 21 nay-sayers, was marked by Rhodd's abstention.

"I did not see the reason why we were dividing on that issue, and I think the people's interest at that time was more important in terms of supporting what was necessary for infrastructure improvement in my constituency on behalf of the people," Rhodd said yesterday.

The East Portland MP added that the provisions in the works budget contained allocations for infrastuctural development, "something that I have lobbied for and made representation for many years".

Taunting the opposition

East Portland grabbed the public spotlight last December when 14 people perished in a market truck which overturned in the Rio Grande Valley, an area of the hilly constituency devoid of good roads.

Tuesday night, government MPs taunted the Opposition, saying those MPs who voted against the transport and works budget would not have the benefit of road repairs.

When Rhodd told the clerk of the House that he had abstained from voting in the divide, it was a victory for the governing side.

"Your road is clear," govern-ment minister Pearnel Charles shouted.

West Portland MP and government minister Daryl Vaz quipped that the bad roads in the Rio Grande Valley in which Rhodd's constituency falls would now be fixed.

A compromise

Following the vote, Maxine Henry-Wilson and Sharon Hay-Webster left their seats to have words with Rhodd, who sat looking rather despondent as he tried to explain his decision to break ranks.

Yesterday, Rhodd described his actions as a "compromise" and said he did not want to vote against his party.

He added: "I don't think I did anything bad. There is precedent for that, including my own party leader, who abstained from voting some years ago."

Not a big issue

PNP President Portia Simpson Miller had abstained from voting while she was minister in charge of the fire service. The opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), at the time, said the fire service was deserving of more money. Simpson Miller agreed with the JLP and did not vote with her party.

PNP General Secretary Peter Bunting said the party had not canvassed views on the possibility of a divide. He said the fact that Rhodd abstained was not a big issue.

" ... it must be a fundamental issue or a fundamental tactic that you come down hard on a member and exercise the whip," Bunting said.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com