Prime Minister, Portia-Simpson: I will not fire Phillip Paulwell....PM sees nothing displeasing in Paulwell’s actions..."...And that would be my decision, not yours,"

BY BALFORD HENRY Senior staff reporter balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, June 05, 2014   

PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller yesterday expressed a vote of confidence in her energy minister, Phillip Paulwell, informing the House of Representatives that the job remains his, unless he displeases Jamaicans in a serious way.

PAULWELL… gets vote of confidence from prime minister

"Let me make it quite clear: I have a minister of energy in place. Unless he does something wrong that would affect and impact the Jamaican people in a serious way, and the Government of Jamaica [he will not be fired]," Simpson Miller said, in responding to a question from Opposition Leader Andrew Holness.

"...And that would be my decision, not yours," Simpson Miller said in a sotto voce remark as she sat down.

Prime Minister Simpson Miller was answering questions from Holness in the House of Representatives on the 381 megawatt energy project.

At one stage she asked Paulwell to stand and show Holness that he was not "paralysed" by his recent failure to pin down the energy plant project.

"It is a very important statement you have just made," Holness reacted, recalling that the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) had expressed the view that the procurement process was flawed and that Paulwell's contribution was improper.

Holness criticised the prime minister for not taking any action in response to the comments made by the contractor general in his special report on the matter. But Simpson Miller reminded the House that her administration had disagreed with the report. more