Dear Editor,
While due care must be taken to ensure that proper laws are passed, it takes way too long in many instances for laws to be made in Jamaica.
Recall just how long it took for our Constitution to be amended to provide for a modern Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
For many years now, we have been talking about the need for a modern building code for Jamaica. After many studies and reports, we are yet to have legislation in place to ensure that buildings being erected on the island meet certain modern international specifications.
A flexible work law has been on the cards now for almost 20 years, having gone through parliamentary committees and even a white paper stage, I believe. However, we do not know how close we are to the law being enacted to improve and increase economic productivity.
An anti-smoking law has been promised for the longest while, with Health Minister Rudyard Spencer in the last Jamaica Labour Party administration giving deadlines as to when such a Bill would be brought to Parliament. His successor Dr Fenton Ferguson has promised that the Bill will become law during his tenure. However, we have seen no forward movement to suggest that such a law is on the horizon.
Legislation to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, to protect our women and even our men, has long been promised, but there is no evidence that it will become a reality any time soon.
As far as I can recall, former minister with responsibility for gender affairs, Olivia "Babsy" Grange, went as far as to promise sexual harassment legislation to come into effect in 2010. No such thing, to my knowledge, and her successor has seemingly not taken up the issue as a matter of interest, let alone urgency.
Our parliamentarians often justify their seeming dereliction of duty in this regard to an understaffed Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel. It seems the logical thing to do is to increase the staff complement of that office to provide the human resources to draft legislation more competently and efficiently for consideration by our parliamentarians, many of whom seem to lack the level of sophistication necessary for legislative action.
Kevin KO Sangster
sangstek@msn.com
Speed up the drafting of laws
-->
While due care must be taken to ensure that proper laws are passed, it takes way too long in many instances for laws to be made in Jamaica.
Recall just how long it took for our Constitution to be amended to provide for a modern Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
For many years now, we have been talking about the need for a modern building code for Jamaica. After many studies and reports, we are yet to have legislation in place to ensure that buildings being erected on the island meet certain modern international specifications.
A flexible work law has been on the cards now for almost 20 years, having gone through parliamentary committees and even a white paper stage, I believe. However, we do not know how close we are to the law being enacted to improve and increase economic productivity.
An anti-smoking law has been promised for the longest while, with Health Minister Rudyard Spencer in the last Jamaica Labour Party administration giving deadlines as to when such a Bill would be brought to Parliament. His successor Dr Fenton Ferguson has promised that the Bill will become law during his tenure. However, we have seen no forward movement to suggest that such a law is on the horizon.
Legislation to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, to protect our women and even our men, has long been promised, but there is no evidence that it will become a reality any time soon.
As far as I can recall, former minister with responsibility for gender affairs, Olivia "Babsy" Grange, went as far as to promise sexual harassment legislation to come into effect in 2010. No such thing, to my knowledge, and her successor has seemingly not taken up the issue as a matter of interest, let alone urgency.
Our parliamentarians often justify their seeming dereliction of duty in this regard to an understaffed Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel. It seems the logical thing to do is to increase the staff complement of that office to provide the human resources to draft legislation more competently and efficiently for consideration by our parliamentarians, many of whom seem to lack the level of sophistication necessary for legislative action.
Kevin KO Sangster
sangstek@msn.com
Speed up the drafting of laws
-->