The Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) is calling on Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness to honour his 2023 commitment made in Parliament to establish job descriptions for Members of Parliament (MPs) and to do so before the upcoming general elections. 

Following the controversial 2023 MP salary increases that occurred without performance metrics, Holness promised accountability mechanisms that would justify future compensation decisions. In the Parliament in June 2023, the prime minister defended his policy to increase salaries.

He said at the time, “Along with improved compensation there must be a well-articulated and transparent performance measurement and accountability framework. The other side of the compensation reform is the implementation of the performance-based system and an accountability framework to be implemented in the next two years.”

Since that commitment, draft job descriptions for MP and Cabinet ministers were tabled, a Joint Select Committee was established, and two public consultations and two committee meetings were convened.

JAMP maintains, however, that since the deadline for public submissions elapsed in December 2023, 15 months have elapsed with no meetings for public review. 

“Voters now face the prospect of selecting representatives without clear standards to evaluate either past performance or future performance. This leaves taxpayers in the position of being unable to hold MPs accountable, even as they are compelled to foot the bill for their salaries,” the non-profit assessed.

In response to this concern, JAMP says it commissioned a public survey in which 1,757 Jamaicans participated. The survey sought to assess citizens’ understanding of parliamentary responsibilities particularly, as they relate to corruption prevention. The findings, according to JAMP, revealed critical gaps in public awareness as well as clear priorities for reform.

The majority believed that:

1.     MPs monitoring public spending was more important than creating laws 

2.     Ensuring that the Government implements the recommendations from watchdog agency (Auditor General, Integrity Commission) reports was a priority above other functions

3.     The biggest obstruction to Parliamentarians being effective in fighting corruption would be the direct benefits that an MP and their associates obtain from corrupt acts and,

4.     If one had to make a choice, a focus on national projects and programmes was more important than the MP’s focus on local constituency development 

The survey also exposed very significant knowledge gaps: Some 75 per cent of respondents had little to no familiarity with parliamentary committees responsible for combating corruption, while 73 per cent were unfamiliar with anti-corruption legislation.

In a public webinar to present the findings held on April 1, JAMP expressed concerns that the draft job descriptions disproportionately focus on constituency work – particularly the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), which represents only one per cent of the national budget, in contrast to parliamentary oversight functions that would address the remaining 99 per cent. 

JAMP executive director Jeanette Calder noted, “The aim is not to reduce the attention being paid to the CDF but to have the job description capture the MP’s role of robust parliamentary oversight and policy-making on behalf of their constituents.”

In that June 2023 session, the prime minister identified this performance-based system as one that would be “the most significant and comprehensive effort ever undertaken in the history of Jamaica to achieve an effective and efficient public sector”.

In agreement, JAMP argued that on these grounds, it calls on Holness to ensure these job descriptions are finalised and approved before Parliament is dissolved.