Amended SOE Regulations For St. Catherine Tabled

Amended Regulations for the State of Public Emergency (SOE), which was declared in the parish of St. Catherine on Friday (June 17), was tabled during a brief sitting of the House of Representatives today (June 23).

Minister of National Security and Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, who tabled the Emergency Powers (Parish of St. Catherine) (No. 3) Regulations, 2022, explained that the incorrect Regulations was inadvertently tabled in the House on Tuesday (June 21).

He noted that the correct document, which has now been tabled, was reviewed to take into account the recent court ruling on the constitutionality of the SOE Regulations. The ruling was published the same day the SOE was announced for St. Catherine.

“There are a number of questions raised about several issues within the Regulations… in reviewing them, amendments were made to a number of them in order to meet the standards that were being asked by the court,” he said.

Dr. Chang informed that those amendments were made and were provided to him on Sunday (June 19). He noted that the hard copy of the document, with all the amendments was taken to the Governor-General to be signed.

“My understanding is that this [signed copy] was sent to the printer. This is what it normally done; that’s the process. What came back on Tuesday was not what I have in my hand. How that happened is a matter of concern,” he said.

Dr. Chang assured that the matter will be investigated to understand how and why the mistake happened “because it is of concern to me personally… why such a grave error could’ve been made. It not only puts Parliament under pressure; it’s not a good sign.”

He stressed that “someone has to be held accountable for this grievous mistake”.