Leader of the Opposition, the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said he will not take responsibility of putting together the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly for the past 30 months.
Dr. Douglas, using the privilege Personal Statements at Tuesday’s sitting of the National Assembly, informed lawmakers and the Nation that it was strange that the onus is now being placed upon him as the Leader of the Opposition, to act with haste and have the Public Accounts Committee commission on the eve of the 42nd Regional Conference of the Caribbean, the Americas and the Atlantic Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) to be held in St. Kitts next week.
“I take no responsibility whatsoever for the two and a half years that this Public Accounts Committee, which is a Standing Committee of this Parliament, has not been established. I take no responsibility for the two and a half years of delay in the appointment of the Public Accounts Committee by this administration after two and a half years of bringing the matter to the attention of the prime minister, and the government and the speakers as well,” said Dr. Douglas, who pointed out there was no attempt by the government to do so.
“Instead we were vilified here in this parliament for raising that particular matter,” said Dr. Douglas, who served as prime minister for 20 years.
Dr. Douglas said he received a letter on May 22nd after working hours from the Office of the Prime Minister, requesting that as Leader of the Opposition, he provide names of members from the opposition benches and to name one of those persons as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
He noted that from the start of the new session of the National Assembly following the February 16th 2015 General Elections, the opposition has been asking for the commissioning and the establishment of the Public Accounts Committee.
“We wrote. I personally wrote to the former Speaker (Franklin Brand) on this matter. I formally wrote to you Mr. Speaker (Michael Perkins) on this particular matter. I have met with several officials of the government on this particular matter. We have raised this issue in this parliament on several occasions over the last two and a half years and we have been given all kinds of excuses from the government side,” said the Leader of the Opposition.