A row broke out in Parliament yesterday after Speaker of the House Alvin Smith allowed Pineridge MP Kwasi Thompson to present a minority report on the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) probe into the New Providence Road Improvement Project (NPRIP).
PAC Chairman Dr. Bernard Nottage objected to the document being tabled. Nottage tabled the substantive report in the House on Monday.
Yesterday, he said for a minority report to be valid it must first be scrutinized by all members of the committee. He claimed that he was only made aware of Thompson’s report two days before the House met and did not have a chance to review it before it was brought to Parliament.
However, House Speaker Alvin Smith ruled that the minority report was admissible under the House’s rules.
As Thompson stood to read the report, opposition members Obie Wilchcombe, Alfred Sears and Frank Smith rose to their feet and shouted in protest.
They accused the speaker of contravening House rules to support the wishes of the government and shouted that his ruling was an injustice.
For the 10 minutes that it took Thompson to read the report to the House, Sears and Smith remained standing and spoke over the Pineridge MP so that what he said was not audible.
On at least two occasions, Smith – who was standing in front of the Pineridge MP at the time – pushed the microphone in front of Thompson away from him.
