With Jamaican Parliamentarians awarding themselves whopping pay rises, I sought to find out what exactly should they be doing and how we should be holding them accountable. With a little help from artificial intelligence (AI) platform, ChatGPT, here’s what I came out with.

Legislative duties:

1. Participate in parliamentary debates and discussions on proposed laws and policies.
2. Introduce bills, propose amendments, and contribute to the legislative process.
3. Analyze and scrutinise legislation, ensuring its alignment with the needs and interests of constituents.
4. Attend parliamentary sessions, committee meetings, and other legislative proceedings.

Representation:

1. Serve as a representative of constituents’ interests, concerns, and needs.
2. Maintain regular communication with constituents and address their inquiries and issues.
3. Advocate for the welfare and development of the constituency at both the national and local levels.
4. Participate in community events and engage with local organisations to stay connected with constituents.

Policy development:

1. Research and analyse policy areas relevant to the constituency and the nation.
2. Contribute to the development of policy proposals and initiatives.
3. Collaborate with government ministers, parliamentary committees, and other MPs to shape beneficial policies.

Oversight and accountability:

1. Hold the government accountable by monitoring its actions, policies, and expenditures.
2. Scrutinise government activities and ensure transparency and integrity in public affairs.
3. Participate in committee work, such as auditing government departments or investigating specific issues.
4. Meet with municipal council members in the constituency every quarter.

Party responsibilities:

1. Represent the political party’s ideology, values, and objectives.
2. Contribute to party decision-making processes.
3. Collaborate with fellow party members to achieve common goals.

Constituency services:

1. Assist constituents in navigating government services and programmes.
2. Delegate, delegate, delegate
3. Devise and report on a constituency project based on the allocated Constituency Fund at least once every six months.
4. Support one National Labor Day project per year.
5. And two constituency development days annually.
6. Sponsor at least one sporting tournament among the female youth annually.
7. Sponsor at least one sporting tournament among the male youth per year.
8. Participate in or materially support one funeral, wedding, beauty pageant/ body-building, or similar ‘social’ event per week.
9. Promote the installation of a domestic rainwater harvesting system in one household per month.
10. Collaborate with other constituency cultural activities in the parish to devise engaging cultural events.
11. Help constituents address issues related to healthcare, education, housing, and public services.
12. Mediate between constituents and relevant government agencies to resolve problems.
13. Tour at least one school, farm, health facility, or enterprise in the constituency per month.
14. Initiate and support skills training projects throughout the tenure.
15. Promote industries that reduce post-harvest loss in rural constituencies.
16. Advocate for the proper upkeep of infrastructure such as roads, water, power, and lighting in the constituency.
17. Devise and support creative, constituency-wide AI activities to make our people keener.
18. Regularly liaise with public sanitation services to contribute to Jamaica becoming the cleanest and most orderly nation in the Caribbean.

Public engagement:

1. Engage with the media to communicate positions, initiatives, and achievements.
2. Participate in public debates and forums to discuss national and local issues.

Do tell me what you think and leave your comments below.

Dennis A. Minott PhD is the CEO of A-QuEST-FAIR. He is also a renewable energy specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the oil and energy sector.