MP lobbies for changes in Barbuda Council laws

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Member of Parliament for Barbuda Arthur Nibbs said he will be pushing for a revision in the law that governs the operations of the Barbuda Council.
Nibbs wants specific laws to be changed to limit the number of times a member of the council is able to leave a meeting or to be absent, thus leaving the body without a quorum.
“We will be coming up with some recommendations to put forward to the attorney general’s office. We can’t have a law and people are still able to walk out of the meeting and nothing happens. This is really hampering the operations of the council,” Nibbs said.
His recommendation came a day after members of the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) failed to attend the official swearing-in ceremony for council members on the various committees.
The MP said as it stands now, if a member of the council misses three conseutive meetings without the leave of the chaiman, that seat will become vacant as was the case with former BPM member Salem Cephas.
“We cannot invoke this law because we have not had a meeting; without a quorum you cannot have a meeting. That is what is frustration and the BPM knows this, so they have failed to attend a meeting to make it legitimate for us to get the business of the council done,” Nibbs said.
Representatives from the BPM opted to boycott the swearing-in ceremony for the new council members on Thursday.
The opposition party submitted a letter to the chairperson of the Barbuda Council, indicating the reason for its decision.
 
(More in today’s Daily Observer)

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