KINGSTON, Jamaica — Prime Minister Andrew Holness says that a joint select committee of Parliament is likely to examine the issue of whether it should be mandatory for the names of fathers to be added to Jamaican birth certificates.

“I have requested that the CPC (Chief Parliamentary Counsel) fast track the review and amendments to the relevant legislation, and subsequently appoint a joint select committee of Parliament to examine the issues surrounding the declaration of paternity and all related issues and concerns,” Holness told the House of Representatives yesterday.

He was responding to a question from Opposition MP, Ronald Thwaites, asking: When will the law be amended to provide for the names of all fathers of Jamaican children to be entered mandatory on their birth certificates?

The Bruce Golding administration in 2011 had announced plans to make it mandatory for fathers’ names to be recorded on local birth certificates.

Minister responsible for the legislation then, Daryl Vaz, said that a penalty would be imposed on mothers who falsify information, or refuse to give details of their child’s father in the registration process.

Balford Henry