Warmington refuses to sign report praising media coverage of CDF Committee
EVERALD WARMINGTON, who chairs the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Committee of Parliament, told yesterday’s sitting that he refused to sign the committee’s final report acknowledging press coverage of proceedings.
Yesterday, before members Richard Azan, Juliet Cuthbert Flynn, Floyd Green and Denise Daley, Warmington gave grounds for his refusal.
“I found two areas in which I asked for changes which have been made. The last paragraph had said [that] the committee is also grateful to the clerk of the House and her staff for the invaluable assistance, and the kind courtesies extended and to the news media for the way they have ably reported the proceedings,” he said in rattling preamble.
TWISTED MEDIA
“I refuse to sign anything that says appreciation to the news media for the way they have ably reported the undertakings in this House. They have not. They have twisted and slanted everything that is said here. So on that basis I asked for it to be removed, because as chairman, I have no intention of signing that, so it has been corrected,” said. Warmington
His second issue was a current $20m per member of parliament allocation.
“The suggestion was made but it was never taken on board, so it couldn’t be that the committee is asking for an increase,” said Warmington, “because I said before then that the committee cannot make a recommendation to the Ministry of Finance, and we have already gotten in the last financial year an increase from $50m to $20m. So it was just a suggestion, but not coming from me, so those two have been corrected.”
Warmington’s issues were not the only ones to be corrected. Several others were mentioned and aired, including Daley questioning the payment of agency fees on welfare projects and the disparity between the sums approved and dispersed.
Meanwhile, more than 60 projects were approved, with the most expensive being two $7m projects and the smallest being $500,000.