Gareth Davis, Gleaner Writer

THE OPPOSITION People's National Party (PNP) is questioning Prime Minister Bruce Golding's alleged transfer of the Lands and Environment portfolios to his office, without the knowledge of two of his ministers.

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller raised the issue at yesterday's National Executive Council meeting at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education in Passley Gardens, Portland.

According to the PNP president, portfolio responsibility was previously held by the ministers of agriculture and lands, and health and environment, respectively, but that Lands and Environment was mysteriously transferred to the Office of the Prime Minister without informing the Jamaican people.

"It is the media which brought the issue to light," she said. "If this is so, something is wrong. The PM has the right to name ministers and assign portfolio responsibility, but he does not have the right to make the transfer without informing the Jamaican people."

Mum's the word

Dr Ken Baugh, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, yesterday said he could not comment on the issue but noted that there were good reasons for the change.

And general secretary of the PNP, Peter Bunting, explained that the language being used in the printed Estimates of Expenditure (tabled on Thursday) is the Ministry of Health, which was formerly the Ministry of Health and Environment.

He also said there was a similar occurrence with the Ministry of Agriculture which is being used in the printed estimates, instead of Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.

"Both these subjects appeared to have been transferred to the Office of the PM," he said. "And there is a tremendous concentration within the Office of the PM, far beyond what we have ever seen."

Bunting argued that the transfer could have been spurred by the PM's lack of confidence in his ministers managing such a broad portfolio. He added that there is the danger of the prime minister's office becoming a bottleneck in the running of government.