JEANETTE CALDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JAMAICA ACCOUNTABILITY METER PORTAL:

A minister who serves the Cabinet by virtue of the prime minister’s appointment and confidence has failed in four months to advise the country of the manner in which he has addressed a board decision that contravened the law. The minister has not discharged his duties as outlined in the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act (PBMA) to hold the board directors to account for breaking the law. The prime minister should hold Minister Montague to account to ensure he provides the information required and, should he fail to respond, the prime minister should move to remove the minister from his Cabinet.

Parliament is the seat of accountability and information is vital. ... That the minister would refuse to answer the questions by forwarding a baseless argument and then have the Speaker of the House and the minister of justice support that argument is deeply troubling. It deepens the trust deficit, and signals that the long-promised accountability is further than perceived.

The job of monitoring Government is not entrusted to an Opposition, but, rather, to all parliamentarians who do not serve the Cabinet. In the nation’s interest, all non-Cabinet MPs should use their time in the next parliamentary session to put questions to Minister Montague to confirm or dispel the troubling media reports. The country need not be detained by Minister Montague reluctance to discharge his duties, as the PBMA empowers the minister of finance to “direct that an investigation of the circumstances of the default be carried out by persons specified by him”.