Pryce calls for parliamentary enquiry into motives of boundary shift in Portmore

Raymond Pryce, the People’s National Party (PNP) chairman for St Catherine East Central, is calling for a parliamentary enquiry into Cabinet member Everald Warmington’s declaration that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) plans to create a political stronghold through adjustment of the constituency’s boundaries.

Pryce, who is also the PNP caretaker for the constituency, expressed concern over the lack of condemnation from the administration regarding Warmington’s comments, which he suggested would be an inappropriate manipulation of boundaries to give the JLP an advantage in Portmore when it becomes Jamaica’s 15th parish.

During a constituency conference, held in Portmore last month, Warmington named specific communities, including Quarry Hill, Lakes Pen, Lime Grove, and a section of Grange Lane, that would be severed from the Portmore Pines municipal division, now part of St Catherine East Central.

This move, Warmington had suggested, would ensure that the PNP cannot secure victory in the constituency.

Pryce, speaking to The Gleaner, labelled Warmington’s actions as gerrymandering, emphasising that the public acknowledgment of shifting political boundaries for electoral advantage raises serious concerns.

He criticised the administration’s silence in addressing Warmington’s statement, asserting that it complicates the parliamentary process and raises questions about the accuracy of information provided by the joint select committee looking at the matter.

“The silence of the administration to formally redress or address the statement by Warmington confounds the administration,” Pryce said.

According to Pryce, Warmington’s assertion makes the decision to establish Portmore as Jamaica’s 15th parish inconsistent with the original rationale put forth by the Holness administration and articulated at the sitting of the joint select committee.

“When the report was tabled, notwithstanding a minority report by the Opposition, the argument provided by the committee suggested that they were honest or other altruistic reasons,” Pryce told The Gleaner.

The reason was initially presented as an effort to grant Portmore full autonomy in handling its affairs, so the joint select committee was tasked with establishing the framework for this transition.

“If Warmington is truthful, then the administration would have misled the country at the parliamentary sitting of the joint select committee, and if I were a member of the House I would table a motion to enquire as to whether Parliament has been misled by the prime minister,” stated Pryce.

He said there is also the matter of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ), which was established to take matters relating to constituency boundaries out of the realm of politics.

Notably, this controversy marks the first time a parish’s formation is under consideration since the establishment of the ECJ. Despite this, Pryce stressed that the ECJ’s primary function is overseeing constituency boundaries, and it should not be compromised during the process.

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