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Black Immigrant Daily News

By Hilbert Haar

Wrestling through a press release issued by MP Rolando Brison, leader of the United People’s party (UP), a couple of things stand out. First of all this statement: “The constitution can never be sidelined.”

This seems to indicate that MP Brison wishes to live up to the oath he took when he became a Member of Parliament: allegiance to the King and the Kingdom Charter, maintaining the State Regulation of St. Maarten and promoting the wellbeing of St. Maarten to the best of his abilities.

But there are also a few statements that offer a glimpse into the way MP Brison is really thinking and they both relate to the suspension of MPs Theo Heyliger and Claudius Buncamper.

“I truly sympathize with the suspended MP,” Brison states about Buncamper. About Heyliger: “As much as I wanted MP Heyliger to rejoin us in parliament …”

And there you have it: MP Brison sympathizes with two suspended parliamentarians who both have been found guilty of lining their pockets with bribes at the expense of the people they are supposed to represent.

Sympathy or not, MP Brison emphasized that Parliament has no authority to disregard article 50 of the Constitution. This article regulates under which circumstances parliamentarians are suspended by law. “Whether we agree or disagree, this article must be applied.” You can almost feel the pain this reality is causing to our elected representative.

MP Brison also offers some kitchen table philosophy about Jus Cogens and Jus Dispositivum in his press release. What do these terms actually mean?

Full disclosure: I did not study law or Latin so I had to look it up. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Jus Cogens as “a principle of international law that is based on values taken to be fundamental to the international community and that cannot be set aside.” The dictionary offers a clear example for readers who are still mystified by this definition: “It is doubtful that any state has ever violated jus cogens norms on a scale rivaling that of the Third Reich.” Genocide and slave trade are violations of jus cogens.

Jus dispositivum applies to laws that have been adopted by consent. The principle is based on the self-interest of participating states and it only binds states that have consented to be governed by it.

MP Brison correctly points out that political rights are not jus cogens. Therefore it is not possible to change their application.

Is there then no way out of this situation that apparently does not please our politicians? MP Brison thinks that there is. “Our only recourse is to amend these articles.”

That is not as simple as it sounds, because changes to the local constitution require the approval of the Dutch Second Chamber, MP Brison states.

This is not correct: changes to the local constitution require the approval from the government of the kingdom (article 129, paragraph 4). Intended changes to articles that relate to the authorities of the parliament cannot be submitted to parliament and cannot be approved by parliament before its initiators have sought the opinion of the Kingdom government.

If a proposal to change the local constitution ever comes to parliament it needs a two-third majority (in other words: 10 votes) for approval.

This may feel like an uphill battle, but MP Brison encourages the Committee for Constitutional Affairs “to continue to be active in identifying the articles that need amend(ing) and prepare drafting these amendments.”

“This may be challenging as these changes would need approval in the Second Chamber,” MP Brison’s press release incorrectly states. “But I believe if properly motivated we will succeed.”

What do I think about all this? If the objective of any change is the protection of parliamentarians that have been found guilty of a crime, it is a bad idea that will set the wrong example. On the other hand, there is not much to worry about right now, because history shows that drafting laws, let alone drafting amendments to the Constitution, is not the strong point of our Parliament.

It is a comforting thought that the Kingdom government has the authority to withhold its approval from changes aimed at keeping criminally convicted parliamentarians like Theo Heyliger and Claudius Buncamper in their overpaid seats.

I put my money on the chances that nothing will change and that badly behaving politicians will just have to suck it up.

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Related article:Press release Brison: Brison: Constitution can never be sidelined

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The Human Employment and Resource Training/National Service Training Agency (HEART/NSTA Trust) remains committed to developing Jamaica’s labour force, by offering globally competitive training and employment opportunities.

This is being done through the organisation’s Triple Access Strategy, which outlines three priority areas of focus for the strategic period (2022-2026) and is in alignment with the Vision 2030 National Development Goal 1, which is to ensure that “Jamaicans are empowered to achieve their fullest potential”.

The strategy is also aligned to Sustainable Development Goal 4, which focuses on quality education.

Addressing a JIS ‘Think Tank’, on August 26, Managing Director of the HEART/NSTA Trust, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton, outlined the priority areas of focus for the agency.

“We have a particular strategic direction that we want Jamaica to understand. The Trust’s work is underpinned by what we refer to as the Triple Access Strategy and everything we do is underpinned by that vision,” she explained.

The first component of the strategy, she informed, aims to enhance the quality of training and certification towards improving Jamaica’s global ranking in the quality of technical vocational education and training (TVET).

Citing the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report Index, which indicated that Jamaica was ranked 36th of 141 countries for quality of vocational training, Dr Ingleton said “this shows that the work that we have been doing in TVET is so exceptional that we would have received such a ranking”.

She added that emphasis will be placed on certifying Jamaicans in labour market-driven and emerging skills and the facilitation of decent work.

Dr Ingleton noted that the second area of focus for the Triple Access Strategy is that “we want to increase services to youth at risk,” adding that “Jamaica’s safety, productivity and competitiveness partly depend on how well its most vulnerable citizens can find meaningful employment.”

Unattached youth, particularly those in volatile communities, will need access to quality training, certification, and other services if they are to break the cycle of being disadvantaged and be integrated into the labour market as skilled, productive citizens.

In response to this, the HEART/NSTA Trust is providing youth at risk with the right training and development opportunities which will enable them to participate in the economic and social life of their community and country.

The third component of the Triple Access Strategy is to strengthen the TVET ecosystem.

To do this, the HEART/NSTA Trust will focus on strengthening industry partnerships, embracing a multi-agency approach to service delivery, and strengthening TVET integration in the general education system.

Additionally, the agency will also seek to strengthen entrepreneurship, business support, placement services and enhance career development and lifelong learning services and strengthen linkages to international TVET organisations.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The annual Notting Hill Carnival has returned to the streets of London for the first time since 2019, with more than a million people expected to take in the music, spectacular parades, dancing and food offerings at Europe’s largest street party on Sunday and Monday.

The carnival, which celebrates Caribbean culture at the end of August every year, had to take place online for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The carnival traces its history back to 1958 when Trinidadian human rights activist Claudia Jones began organising a gathering to unify the community after a series of racially motivated attacks on West Indians in west London’s Notting Hill neighbourhood.

The event has grown from a festival drawing several hundred people to a huge annual street party, with tens of thousands of performers in the colourful parade and more than 30 sound systems.

Celebrations began on Saturday night, as more than 1,000 people gathered to watch a steel band competition in west London.

Crowds of young children blowing whistles danced down the streets with their parents on Sunday, traditionally a more family-friendly day than Monday. Some children stood on the doorsteps of their houses waving Jamaican flags.

Pepe Francis heads the Ebony Steelband Trust, which has been performing at the carnival for decades.

“Since the band has started, I’m on my fifth generation of people and there’s been a lot of changes,” he said.

“But our members look forward to the carnival every year and practice takes place regularly from year to year.”

“A lot of people have been waiting for it to come back,” Francis added.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Scrap Iron Dealers Association president Allan Ferguson. – File photo/Marvin Hamilton

SCRAP Iron Dealers Association president Allan Ferguson said the association had nothing to do with protests along the Solomon Hochoy Highway near Claxton Bay early on Monday morning.

Steel Workers Union president Timothy Bailey said the same on behalf of the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM).

They made these statements at a news conference in Kelly Village on Monday, in response to comments the Prime Minister made earlier in a Facebook post.

Dr Rowley said, “So they have made their move. Dump truckloads of sand and debris on both sides of the highway and block traffic!

“What a wonderful idea of leadership from Roget and the followers including the UNC!

“The marauding gangs of metal thieves threatened to, but did not complete the job of shutting down the country, so the leaders are helping them to get that done.”

Ferguson said the association is not about shutting down the country.

“I am not a criminal.”

Ferguson also said he was not following anyone else’s agenda other than his association’s ongoing call to urge Government to lift its six-month ban on scrap-iron export.

While he controls some people affected by the ban, which is seen as tantamount to a closure of the industry, Ferguson admitted he does not have control over others.

Speaking on JTUM’s behalf, Bailey said, “We were not part of any action taken this morning.”

He reiterated a previous position stated publicly by JTUM president Ancel Roget that JTUM does not condone any illegal action, and its actions take place within the ambit of the law.

Bailey said he was appalled by Rowley’s post, and urged the PM to demonstrate more mature leadership.

“We can’t broad-brush everyone for the actions of a few.”

Ferguson also announced that on Friday, the association will stage a motorcade from the Caroni Bird Sanctuary at 10 am to Port of Spain, to continue its campaign for the industry’s reopening.

“Let them try to stop that.”

The association tried to stage a motorcade from the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba to Port of Spain on August 24 but was only given police permission to go as far as Barataria.

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