DESPITE FEWER numbers in the House of Representatives, members of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) have missed more sittings in Parliament than their Government counterparts.Gordon House's register shows that cumulatively, PNP members of parliament (MPs) were absent 213 times, while the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has a cumulative 189 absent trans-gressions against its members.
Many of these absences, how-ever, on the government sides could be attributed to ministerial responsibilities.
The JLP has four more members in the House than the PNP, having won 32 of the 60 seats in the House of Representatives.
empty seats
Embattled North East St Elizabeth member of parliament, Kern Spencer, is the chief con-tributor to the number of empty seats on the Opposition benches.
He has missed 24 of the 48 sittings of the House between October 2, 2007, and this July's summer break.
Western Hanover MP Ian Hayles has not helped the PNP's cause either, missing 17 sittings, four more than his party president and leader of the opposition, Portia Simpson Miller, who has been absent 13 times.
On the Government side, Ed Bartlett, who has been a frequent flier since assuming the job of Tourism Minister in September, has missed 23 sittings of the House.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Ken Baugh has been absent 10 times.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding has missed six sittings, however, Parliament records show that he was on government business whenever he was absent.
Apologies were tendered for Bartlett 18 times when he failed to show.
corruption and fraud
Spencer, who faces the court next week on corruption and fraud charges arising from his role in the distribution of Cuban bulbs, missed five sittings when he took a leave of absence during the heat of the controversy.
The first-time MP had a clean attendance sheet before November 6, when the allegations of fraud were made in the House. That was when he cried after Energy Minister Clive Mullings took documents to Parliament which questioned the manner in which the light-bulb project had been implemented.
The MP would accumulate three absences between that date and when he was arrested and charged on February 26.
Of the 24 times he has been absent, Spencer has never sent an apology to the House.
Eight Opposition MPs (Dr Wykeham McNeill, Dr Peter Phillips, Simpson Miller, Dr D.K. Duncan, Anthony Hylton, Michael Peart, Hayles and Spencer) have missed 10 or more sittings.
Five government members (Bartlett, Baugh, Shaw, Peralto and Henry) have also missed 10 or more sittings.
Government MPs Andrew Galli-more and Everald Warmington have impeccable attendance records.
single blemish
Pearnel Charles, Joseph Hibbert and Ronald Thwaites all have a single blemish, while Sharon Hay-Webster, Dr Horace Chang, Andrew Holness, Derrick Kellier and Robert Pickersgill have been absent twice.
Among the first-timers, govern-ment members Othneil Lawrence and Robert Montague, and Opposition member Noel Arscott boast healthy attendance records. Lawrence, who represents North West St Ann, has missed only one sitting; Montague, who represents western St Mary has missed two sittings, while Arscott (South West Clarendon) has missed three sittings.
| Andrew Gallimore | 0 |
| Everald Warmington | 0 |
| Pearnel Charles | 1 |
| Joeseph Hibbert | 1 |
| Ronald Thwaites | 1 |
| Othneil Lawrence | 1 |
| Robert Montague | 2 |
| Derrick Kellier | 2 |
| Robert Pickersgill | 2 |
| Horace Chang | 2 |
| Sharon Hay-Webster | 2 |
| Andrew Holness | 2 |
| Noel Arscott | 3 |
| Fenton Ferguson | 3 |
| Fitz Jackson | 3 |
| Dean Peart | 3 |
| Delroy Chuck | 4 |
| Olivia Grange | 4 |
| Morais Guy | 4 |
|
| Derrick Smith | 4 | |
| (plus 24 weeks leave of absence) |
|
| Ernest Smith | 5 |
| J.C. Hutchinson | 5 |
| Peter Bunting | 5 |
| Karl Samuda | 5 |
| Michael Stern | 5 |
| Gregory Mair | 5 |
| Colin Fagan | 6 |
| Rudyard Spencer | 6 |
| Franklyn Witter | 6 |
| Clive Mullings | 6 |
| Marisa |
| Dalrymple-Philibert | 6 |
| Bruce Golding | 6 |
| Patrick Harris | 6 |
| Shahine Robinson | 7 |
| St Aubyn Bartlett | 7 |
| Donald Rhodd | 7 |
| Daryl Vaz | 7 |
| Laurie Broderick | 7 |
| James Robertson | 8 |
| Luther Buchanan | 8 |
| Roger Clarke | 8 |
| Lisa Hanna | 8 |
| Natalie Neita-Headley | 8 |
| Christopher Tufton | 9 |
| Omar Davies | 9 |
| Phillip Paulwell | 9 |
| Dr Ken Baugh | 10 |
| Wykeham McNeill | 10 |
| Peter Phillips | 10 |
| Audley Shaw | 10 |
| Tarn Peralto | 12 |
| Mike Henry | 13 |
| Portia Simpson Miller | 13 |
| D.K. Duncan | 14 |
| Anthony Hylton | 14 |
| Michael Peart | 14 |
| Ian Hayles | 17 |
| Ed Bartlett | 23 |
| Kern Spencer | 24 |
|
(Plus five weeks leave of absence)
