Move Parliament to King’s House lands
PRIME MINISTER Andrew Holness is correct that there is an attitude among Jamaicans that nothing should be spent on Government. They equate it with the comfort for politicians who, generally, they don’t trust and believe line their pockets.
Nonetheless, as Mr Holness says, there is genuine need for a new Parliament but not, as the prime minister posits, as a symbol of sovereignty and a driver of respect for the State. The more mundane fact is that the existing Parliament building, Gordon House, is grossly inadequate, having long outlived its usefulness. In that respect, we support the construction of a modern, purpose-built legislature.
What we are not sanguine about is the proposed site for the new legislature – inside George VI Memorial Park, or National Heroes Circle – for which Mr Holness earlier this month launched an international design competition in which Jamaican architects must play lead roles.
The park is around 50 acres, half of which already contains memorials to Jamaica’s national heroes and other important personages. Most of the rest is an undeveloped recreational area for the mainly depressed surrounding communities whose residents have little or no other access, nearby, to green space.
WE REMAIN UNCONVINCED
It is true that the George VI Memorial Park Act does say that 11 and a half acres of the land may be used to site Parliament. Yet, we share the concern of those who fear that the Parliament’s construction, and associated developments, would not only fundamentally change the character of the area, but limit its use for recreation and sport by the surrounding poor neighbourhoods. We remain unconvinced of the compensatory efficacy for the planned development of 23 noncontiguous acres of green space in the communities.
It is not too late, perhaps, to reconsider the site and move the Parliament to the King’s House lands, where already exists the home of the governor general and the Office of the Prime Minister, or find another site in downtown Kingston.