The Tribune

What a mess.

When Speaker Halson Moultrie suspended Parliament yesterday, it wasn’t just an interruption of our country’s democracy – it was a sign that whatever words are being said by our leaders, our response to the COVID-19 pandemic is at times a shambles.

In yesterday’s Tribune, we reported that the Speaker and the majority of House staff were under quarantine after the chief clerk tested positive for COVID-19. We wish him a speedy recovery.

This situation led to obvious questions with a session of Parliament due today – questions that Mr Moultrie said he tried to raise with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and Renward Wells, who is both Health Minister and leader of government business in the House.

“I made numerous attempts to communicate the situation with the member for Killarney (Dr Minnis) and with the member for Bamboo Town (Mr Wells). The staffers of Parliament we assembled in these very chambers waiting for answers. We got one response in one word from the member for Killarney and that was “noted’’.

“We wanted to find out how we should proceed today, and we wanted to find out whether or not the staff, who were in a challenged position financially to take the test, would be able to go to a government clinic to take those tests or to have those tests paid for in a private institution by the government and we waited and we waited and we waited and we got no response.”

It’s fair to say that Mr Moultrie’s relationship with the FNM has been fractious at best in recent times, and given his tendency to be sometimes volatile, what did they think his reaction would be to being ignored when asking perfectly valid questions about health care for his staff and how to proceed when quarantine rules are meant to be in place?

Indeed, as this article goes to press, there still has not been a response from the government to what took place in Parliament today. Never mind Mr Moultrie, the public deserves an explanation for the government’s failings in ensuring our democratic process continues uninterrupted.

One staffer was reportedly even ordered to come out of quarantine and into yesterday’s session – does that mean all those in the session should now be in quarantine?

Mr Moultrie also raises good points about physical distancing in the Parliament and, more pointedly, why not have virtual attendance at Parliament so representatives during this period can attend by Zoom, like so many of us have been doing for our regular business meetings?

Mr Moultrie says such suggestions have been “either ignored or refused”.

There have been times when this column has called Mr Moultrie to account when he has exceeded his bounds or on comments he has made. But on this occasion, he is absolutely right.

The health and safety of his staff and all those in the staff deserves more than a one-word response. The country has been given one less word than that, with silence on the whole affair from the government.

Everyone concerned deserves better.

Unemployment aid

Just as the government deserves criticism for yesterday’s Parliamentary brouhaha, so too does it deserve praise for its extension of unemployment benefits until the end of June.

The unemployment assistance programme had been due to run out at the end of this month, and while there are some areas that are opening back up, there are still a number of businesses with furloughed staff and this gives people the assurance of at least a few more months of support until they too can be taken back on.

Minister of State for Finance Kwasi Thompson clearly gets the importance of the situation, too. “We must continue the efforts to assist persons who find themselves unemployed,” he said. “We are seeing though with opening up of hotels, with opening up of travel, with activities that are happening. We are seeing people going back to work. But the government is still committed to ensuring that we provide the necessary assistance for those persons who are unemployed.”

Well done, and keep it up. We would only urge that if it needs to be extended again – and that seems likely with some hotels delaying until later in the year – that the decision is taken sooner rather than just a couple of days before expiry. Give people the certainty they need as they grapple with an uncertain future.