House passes Mediation Act, pays tribute to Harding, Nelson, Peart and Francis

Jamaica’s House of Representatives on July 14, 2026 passed the Mediation Act 2026 and held parliamentary tributes for four prominent Jamaicans before Energy, Transport and Telecommunications Minister Daryl Vaz answered opposition questions on electricity licensing and Petrojam.

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck steered the bill through its final stages after debate had already closed. The measure creates a regulatory framework for mediation, including community mediation, registers mediators, licenses mediation service providers, and gives effect to the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation adopted in New York on December 20, 2018. In committee the House approved amendments substituting “ordinarily” for “habitually” or “habitual” in three definitional references in clause 2, and added to clause 11 that default on a fine may bring imprisonment of up to six months. Clauses then advanced to third reading and the bill was passed.

The House then paid tribute to Professor Oswald Harding, OJ, CD, KC, former Senate president and Cabinet minister; Arthur Nelson, former MP for St. James West Central; Dean Peart, former Cabinet minister and five-term MP for Manchester North Western; and athletics coach Steven Francis, co-founder of the MVP Track and Field Club. Families of the Peart and Nelson households sat in the gallery.

Speakers across both aisles recalled Harding’s long Senate service, legal scholarship and role founding the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology, Jamaica. Culture Minister Olivia Grange said Harding’s widow, Marigold, wanted much of his Hardingham ceramics collection—described as the Caribbean’s largest private collection, with more than 3,000 pieces—donated for public display, ideally at the new Parliament building, and pledged to work toward that wish.

Members praised Nelson’s engineering background, Order of Distinction award in 2015, and work in western Jamaica, and remembered Peart as mayor of Mandeville, local government minister and a blunt constituency organiser. Francis was credited with proving elite athletes could be developed at home; names cited in tributes included Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Asafa Powell, Elaine Thompson and others linked to MVP.

House Leader Robert Morgan announced funeral arrangements: Harding’s service on July 27 at the UWI Chapel; Nelson’s on August 8 at 11 a.m. at St. James Parish Church; and a celebration of life for Francis on August 15 at the National Indoor Sports Centre. Cabinet will be asked to approve an official funeral for Peart.

Under questions, Vaz said talks have begun on the All-Island Electricity Licence 2016 with Jamaica Public Service Company Limited, listed a Cabinet-approved negotiating team chaired by former permanent secretary Carol Palmer, said Petrojam subsidies tied to Middle East oil shocks are expected to be recovered through pricing as markets ease, and stated there are no plans to divest Petrojam assets. He said Jamaica remains roughly 16 per cent renewable, still aiming toward the prime minister’s 50 per cent by 2030 target after recent solar and battery procurements, and is seeking a competitive price near about 20 US cents per kilowatt-hour. He declined to detail the sensitive JPS talks beyond confirming they are ongoing and that other parties have expressed interest.

The House also adopted motions allowing the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee hybrid meetings, adopting a Constituency Development Fund special report, and replacing Zelica Jess with G. Anthony Hilton on the Regulations Committee, then adjourned to a date to be fixed.