Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller (right) looks over documents with Minister of Labour and Social Security, Derrick Kellier (centre) and Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, during a meeting with the Montego Bay business community yesterday at the Office of the Prime Minister, in the St. James capital. - Photo by Janet Silvera

WESTERN BUREAU:

Government Ministers are to be rotated to take up duties at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) at Delisser Drive in Montego Bay, St. James on a monthly basis, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has announced.

According to the Prime Minister, the idea is to make the Cabinet members more accessible to the public and not necessarily their political affiliates. The ministers will be rotated accordingly.

The Prime Minister, who said this would be part of her mandate, made the commitment in the presence of Ministers Robert Pickersgill, Colin Campbell, Derrick Kellier and Phillip Paulwell at a meeting organised by the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the OPM on Thursday.

The OPM in Montego Bay was established, by then Prime Minister PJ Patterson, in the 1990s as a way of ensuring a connection with an important economic sector of the country which is also considered a critical political weather vane. Conventional political wisdom is that the party that wins western Jamaica in a general election will also control the Government. However, despite heavy Government spending in the 2002 General Election, the ruling People's National Party (PNP) lost its stranglehold on the area.

Ministers not accessible

The specific trigger for Mrs. Simpson Miller's announcement, however, was the concern expressed by businessman Fred Smith, the managing director of Exclusive Holidays and Tropical Tours and one of Montego Bay's most successful transportation operators, who said he felt the country's ministers were not accessible enough, particularly to deal with concerns affecting the industry in which he is involved.

"I believe that western Jamaica does not get the attention that it deserves and, based on that, we are forced with the inconvenience of travelling to Kingston to meet with our representatives," he told The Gleaner.

He said that, if there was a minister in the Second City once per month, then the citizens could take their plight to them.

The Prime Minister welcomed the suggestion and assured the large group that the recommendation would be implemented.

"I will spend a day as well," she told the audience, but cautioned that the presence of the ministers cannot be used as a political tool. "What I want here is a partnership with the chamber. When I am finished working in this country, you will have no other option."

She said politics would have to be pushed aside. "We play too much politics, that is why Jamaica can't move forward."

President of the MBCCI, Pauline Reid, welcomed the move, saying that this should have been implemented a long time ago. "It will give the community access to our leaders, so that critical issues affecting the region can be dealt with."