Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697807132573.pdf (Jamaica)
ORDER OF BUSINESS OF THE SENATE OF JAMAICA FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 PRAYERS STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS ANNOUNCEMENTS BILLS BROUGHT FROM THE HONOURABLE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PETITIONS PAPERS REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES NOTICES OF MOTIONS GIVEN ORALLY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS (For answer on the 10th day of August, 2012 – Questions No.

3, 4 and 5) (For answer on the 17th day of August, 2012 – Question No.
7) MOTIONS THAT MAY BE MADE AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF PUBLIC BUSINESS REQUIRING NOTICE MOTIONS RELATING TO SITTINGS OF THE SENATE MOTIONS FOR LEAVE TO INTRODUCE BILLS PRESENTATION OF BILLS WITHOUT LEAVE OF THE SENATE FIRST OBTAINED PUBLIC BUSINESS PRESENTATION OF BILLS WITHOUT LEAVE OF THE SENATE FIRST OBTAINED Page 2 of 9 GOVERNMENT BUSINESS 1.
The Minister of Justice – To move – THE PETROLEUM ACT Page 3 of 9 Notice given on 21.09.2012 The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (Extension of Functions) (Amendment) Order, 2012, Resolution WHEREAS, by virtue of subsection (6) of section 6 of the Petroleum Act (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), the Minister may, by order, extend the functions of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica to include such energy resources other than petroleum, as the order shall specify; AND WHEREAS the said subsection (6) of section 6 of the Act provides further that every order made under section 6 shall be subject to affirmative resolution; AND WHEREAS it is desirable that the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (Extension of Functions) (Amendment) Order, 2012, be affirmed: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by this Honourable Senate as follows: (i) This Resolution may be cited as the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (Extension of Functions) (Amendment) Order, 2012, Resolution; (ii) The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (Extension of Functions) (Amendment) Order, 2012, which was laid on the Table of the Senate on the 13th day of July, 2012, is hereby affirmed.
PRIVATE MEMBERS’ MOTIONS NOTICE GIVEN ON FRIDAY, 24TH FEBRUARY, 2012 Page 4 of 9 1.

The Senate to continue debate on the motion – [No.
6] WHEREAS the role of Government has expanded beyond ministries and departments, and public bodies have taken on increasing importance in the provision of public services to all Jamaicans; AND WHEREAS it is indisputable that improved governance practices have globally been shown to result in better performance by firms in private and public sectors; AND WHEREAS it is also indisputable that reliance on political affiliation rather than on competence, qualifications and diversity is known to result in lower levels of performance; AND WHEREAS Jamaicans deserve ever improving service levels from public bodies, and, therefore, require increased accountability and transparency in the establishment of public boards; AND WHEREAS Jamaica has just experienced its first change of political administration since the promulgation of a governance framework for public bodies in September 2011; AND WHEREAS Jamaica, therefore, now has its first opportunity to broadly apply the framework to the appointment of persons to the boards of public bodies: BE IT RESOLVED that the Corporate Governance Framework for Public Bodies of September 2011 be immediately implemented by the current administration so as to ensure the systematic adoption of proper governance guidelines and the maintenance by public bodies of the highest levels of accountability, transparency, and service delivery to the benefit of all Jamaicans.
NOTICE GIVEN ON FRIDAY, 16TH MARCH, 2012 2.

Senator Grant – To move – [No.

12] WHEREAS Green Paper No.

1 of 2011 entitled “Tax Reform for Jamaica” was laid on the Table of the Senate on the 10th day of February, 2011: BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate debate the proposals contained in the Green Paper and make its recommendation to the Cabinet.

NOTICE GIVEN ON FRIDAY, 29TH JUNE, 2012 3.

Senator Knight – To move – [No.
16] BE IT RESOLVED that the Report of the Standing Orders Committee of the Senate on its deliberations on a Private Members’ Motion regarding lunch break during sittings of the Senate, which was laid on the Table of the Senate on the 29th day of June, 2012, be approved; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the recommendations contained in the draft report be adopted and the draft amendments, having been accepted by the Standing Orders Committee, be approved, notwithstanding Standing Order 84: AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the amendments be incorporated in the Standing Orders.
Page 5 of 9 NOTICE GIVEN ON FRIDAY, 13TH JULY, 2012 4.

Senator Morris – To move – [No.

17] BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate thank His Excellency the Governor-General for his gracious speech delivered to both Houses of Parliament on the 10th day of May, 2012, approve the plans and programmes outlined in his gracious speech, and place on record its appreciation of the performance of the Government.

5.

Senator Brown – To move – [No.
19] WHEREAS the Master and Servant Act, 1842 was repealed and replaced with the Employment (Termination and Redundancy Payments) Act (ETRPA); AND WHEREAS the ETRPA provided certain rights to Jamaican workers, including continuity of employment, redundancy payment, protection against agreement to deny such payment, among other things; AND WHEREAS many workers are being forced by circumstances to enter into forms of employment contracts which undermine the benefits provided under various pieces of labour legislation, including the ETRPA; AND WHEREAS the prevalence of treating workers as “independent contractors”, denying them benefits such as vacation leave, sick leave, health insurance, pension and other benefits, is injurious to the best interest of our society; AND WHEREAS there is no standardised definition of “worker” in the several pieces of labour legislation: BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable Senate urge the Government to review, as a matter of urgency, the practice of employing workers under the guise of “independent contractor/contract worker” with a view to ensuring that the workers of Jamaica are not deprived of their hard won rights; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOVLED that the Government take the necessary steps to urgently standardise the definition of “worker” in the labour laws of Jamaica.
6.

Senator Dr. Tufton – To move – [No.
20] WHEREAS the Parliamentary Opposition is in support of the principles of the Caribbean Community working together on matters of regional and individual territorial interests; Page 6 of 9 AND WHEREAS the Parliamentary Opposition has recognised and accepted that there are several benefits to be derived by Jamaicans and Caribbean people through the collaboration of Caribbean countries on matters of common regional importance; AND WHEREAS there is a recognition that Caribbean people have benefited in critical areas such as education and training, regional security enforcement and natural disaster management and lobbying in the international arena on matters of regional importance; AND WHEREAS there are concerns by sections of Jamaica’s business community and the Parliamentary Opposition that on matters of CARICOM trade, the Treaty of Chaguaramas, either in breach or its application, has not served the best interests of the Jamaican economy: BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable Senate recommend the establishment of a Joint Select Committee to review the existing trade issues of concern within CARICOM, in particular, but not confined to, clauses relating to the rules of Origin, application of the Common External Tariff and the impact on CARICOM trade of energy subsidies applied by Trinidad and Tobago to its local manufacturing sector, with the intention of establishing better understanding on these issues and securing the best interest of the Jamaican economy.
NOTICE GIVEN ON FRIDAY, 20TH JULY, 2012 7.

Senator Gayle – To move – [No.
21] WHEREAS the Employment (Termination and Redundancy Payments) Act (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) was enacted on the 9th day of December, 1974, and repealed the Master and Servants Act of 1842, which did not address the need for broad legislative protection for workers; AND WHEREAS the intent of the Act was to address the need to ensure adequate compensation for workers in the light of experiences of workers losing their jobs after giving various periods of service to an employer without any compensation as well as to address the need to legislate for protection of workers who did not have the benefit of trade union advocacy; AND WHEREAS the Labour Relations Code gives recognition to the security of workers and encourages consultation with workers or their representatives to ensure that reasonable steps are taken to avoid redundancies; AND WHEREAS there are still inadequacies in the Act and there is urgent need for a review of the Act to address such inadequacies including: (i) The lack of defined procedures to establish and validate the reasons for planned redundancies, the criteria to be used in selecting those positions to be made redundant, a requirement for consultation prior to formal notice being served, and to ensure the general protection of the worker whose position is to be made redundant; (ii) The lack of a defined time period within which redundancy payments shall be made; (iii) The lack of any provision to make the principal employer ultimately responsible where a contractor or sub-contractor is unable or fails to meet the obligations of the law.
Page 7 of 9 BE IT RESOLVED that the Honourable Senate call on the Government to establish a Joint Select Committee of Parliament to conduct a review of the Act; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Government undertake to consider any amendments to the Act proposed by the Joint Select Committee, as a matter of urgency.

NOTICE GIVEN ON FRIDAY, 21ST SEPTEMBER, 2012 8.

Senator Skeffery – To move – [No.
22] WHEREAS measures geared towards local government reforms were first mooted formally nineteen (19) years ago in 1993; AND WHEREEAS the Minister of Local Government and Community Development has outlined reform objectives which include the following: (i) To entrench local government into the Constitution of Jamaica; (ii) To recognise local government as a separate and autonomous sphere of government through the allocation of functions best administered and regulated at the local level; (iii) To guarantee the security (predictability and sufficiency through central government transfer) of financial resources for local authorities and the increased contribution of independent sources of their own income; (iv) To provide a modern legal framework for the viable operation of local authorities, including the authority to conduct the functions and responsibilities assigned, the delineation of the scope and power of mayors, councillors and secretary managers, the financing of local authorities and the management of their human resources.
AND WHEREAS a country’s development must bear a correlation to the effectiveness of its local government system: BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable Senate, in the year of Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of Independence, call upon the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development to fast-track initiatives for the actualisation of the above-mentioned objectives, in order to give real autonomy, self-determination and independence to the people of Jamaica in their communities; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVELD that the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development be asked to present to this Honourable Senate a design of its local government reform agenda and a schedule of its programme to achieve the above-mentioned objectives during this parliamentary year.
Page 8 of 9 REFERRED TO COMMITTEE Page 9 of 9 10.02.2012 1.

Special Select Committee to sit jointly with a similar committee appointed by the House of Representatives to consider and report on Green Paper No.

2 of 2011 titled “Options for Reform of the Public Sector Pension System”.

09.03.2012 Standing Orders Committee to consider and report on Private Members’ Motion No.

1 of 2012, 2. regarding the use of technology in the Senate, brought by Senator Norman Grant.

04.05.2012 3.
04.05.2012 3.

Special Select Committee set up to consider and report on motions which require action on national policy issues, in accordance with Standing Order 26A, to consider and report on Private Members’ Motion No 3 of 2012, regarding the integrity of the system by which driver’s licences are issued in Jamaica, brought by Senator Imani Duncan-Price.

08.06.2012 4.

Standing Orders Committee to consider and report on Private Members’ Motion No.
4 of 2012, as amended, regarding a comprehensive review of the Standing Orders, brought by Senator Arthur Williams.

27.07.2012 5.

Special Select Committee to sit jointly with a similar committee to be appointed by the House of Representatives to consider and report on a Bill shortly entitled “The Committal Proceedings Act, 2012”.

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