Golding and Lightbourne

THE SENATE yesterday passed an amendment to the Bank of Jamaica Act, but not before controversy had threatened to derail the debate.

Opposition Senator Mark Golding's contribution ended prematurely after Government Senator Dorothy Lightbourne accused him of breaching the Standing Orders.

While commenting on an amendment to Section 15 of the Bank of Jamaica Act, Senator Golding widened the debate to address fundamental reform of the central bank.

Section 15 of the law prescribes the denominations and amounts of coins, which constitute legal tender. The current legal tender provision has been amended for the purpose of introducing coins of a higher value.

economic challenges

During his presentation, the Opposition senator placed emphasis on aspects of the macroeconomy and the economic challenges facing the country. He also made a case for reforming the governance structure of the central bank.

"Bank of Jamaica has been one of the protagonists in the creation of the situation that we are in, as its strategy has been to mortgage the revenues of present and future generations in the name of trying to manage the rate of depreciation of the Jamaican dollar and the related rate of inflation," he said.

The Opposition senator, while acknowledging the importance of an independent central bank, pointed to a significant drawback.

According to Senator Golding, that independence brought with it the dangers of enormous powers concentrated in an institution that had no effective structures to ensure accountability.

It was at this point that Lightbourne, who is also attorney general, rose on a point of order. Making reference to Standing Order 35 (1), she argued that Golding had departed from the provisions of the bill being debated.

Standing Orders

She said subject to the provisions of Standing Order 11, debate on any motion, bill or amendment shall be relevant to such motion or bill.

Further, she said the Standing Orders stipulated that a member must confine his observation to the subject under discussion.

But her Opposition counterpart, A.J. Nicholson, asked that the Senate allow his colleague latitude to debate an important matter.

Senator Nicholson contended that with the current economic crisis any opportunity to put ideas on the table for discussion should be considered.

However, president of the Senate, Dr Oswald Harding, agreed with Senator Lightbourne's position, saying Senator Golding should comply with the rules of the Senate.

He acknowledged that the points raised by Senator Golding should be crafted in a motion for debate at another time.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com