KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), while saying it is heartened to see the Government continuing the work they started to make the National Heroes Circle the Centre of Government, is lambasting the ruling party for being reckless.

They are accusing the Jamaica Labour Party administration of not learning the lessons of the past with a lack of due diligence and avoiding consultation with the people and the Opposition.

“The cavalier attitude of the Prime Minister Holness and his government to the concerns of the people about inclusion of Jamaican professionals in the design and construction of the Parliament building is disrespectful,” Leader of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives, Phillip Paulwell argued.

“The opposition is deeply concerned about the one-sided decision-making which is not representative of a Parliamentary democracy which is almost evenly divided. We  view the approach of the government as  disrespectful towards  the many Jamaican professionals with the skills to design and construct what will be one of our most important national structures,” said the Member of Parliament of Kingston East and Port Royal.

Paulwell added that submissions of drawings for the National Heroes Park Government Complex were previously done while the PNP was in government.

He noted that “unlike what is now taking place; consultations were held with the then Opposition JLP, as this was viewed as a national project which required broad-based consensus.

According to Paulwell; “For the Government to now totally disregard the duly elected Opposition which represents a large portion of the population is unacceptable.”

“The People’s National Party is warning the government not to go off on a frolic of its own. We wish to remind Mr Holness that the building of the people’s Parliament is the people’s business and consultation is a basic requirement,” said Paulwell.