Partnership for Jamaica Membership Commits to Agreement

Members of the National Council of the Partnership for Jamaica have reiterated their commitment to the agreement and have pledged to take steps to strengthen the structure of the partnership and to use the body to resolve issues.

The development follows a meeting of the partners at Jamaica House on Tuesday, (December 16), which was chaired by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller.

Addressing a Jamaica House press briefing today (December 17), Minister of Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, informed that the main order of business was the functionality, cohesiveness and effectiveness of the partnership process.

She said that coming out of the meeting it was agreed that the Consultation Code of Practice for the Public Sector, issued in 2005, will be embedded in the operations of the Ministries and Agencies.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance and Planning will brief the Partnership on the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act and the status of work being undertaken to elaborate and implement improvements to the Public Sector Governance Framework.

This is being undertaken based on concerns expressed by the Partnership Council regarding the governance of public bodies and, in particular, the reporting requirements between public boards and their respective Ministries.

“The Partnership Council agreed that it would decide its position regarding any need for further public bodies governance review after the briefing with the Ministry of Finance and Planning,” Senator Falconer stated.

The Council also took note of the two letters from the 51 per cent Coalition on behalf of the women’s groups and from the Jamaica Environment Trust on behalf of the environmental groups.

“The Government is hoping that based on the discussions we had yesterday and the agreements that were reached, the consensus that we had, that will encourage those groups to come back to the table. We certainly want them back at the table because this partnership is very important to the Government,” Senator Falconer stated.

Meanwhile, the Information Minister noted that the National Council of the Partnership received and discussed a report from its governance committee on the consultations undertaken with the partners and the board and management of the National Housing Trust (NHT) on the Orange Grove/Outameni issue.

“The Partnership noted and accepted the information provided by the Prime Minister that a new board for the National Housing Trust will be appointed when the life of the current board expires in April 2015,” Senator Falconer said.

The membership of the National Council of the Partnership for Jamaica comprises representatives of academia, civil society, private sector, labour, the opposition and the Government.

In July 2013, the private sector, Government, private sector and civil society representatives on the Council signed the Partnership for Jamaica Agreement towards meeting targets in fiscal consolidation, rule of law, ease of doing business and employment, energy diversification and economic growth.