The Government has been accused of two-facedness for its embrace of National Hero Marcus Garvey while it fails to rehabilitate the boyhood home of the Pan-Africanist.

Shahine Robinson, the member of parliament for North East St Ann, the constituency where the home is located, said in the House of Representatives on Wednesday that since ground was broken for rehabilitation of the house in 2011, nothing else has been done.

"This is even though funds have been identified from the Chase Fund to the tune of $22 million," Robinson said. "It might not have been able to carry out all the refurbishing works that needs to be done, but at least we would have gone a significant part of the way."

The Government has said that the house will be refurbished and transformed into a heritage site.

"We want to create an environment where Jamaicans at home and abroad can visit and pay tribute to a man who left a great legacy. It was he who said that 'a people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots'. Let us continue to embrace our rich cultural heritage and pass on the memories and traditions to the next generation," read a message from Youth and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna.

The message was delivered during a ceremony to commemorate the 128th birthday of Jamaica's first national hero, held on the compound of the St Ann Parish Library, St Ann's Bay, on August 17.

Jamaica's first national hero was born in St Ann's Bay on August 17, 1887. In 1914, he started the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Jamaica. The UNIA, which grew into an international organisation, encouraged self-government for black people worldwide, self-help economic projects and protest against racial discrimination.

But Robinson said that she has had enough of the Government's failure to honour its commitment to not clear restore the house.

"I indicated at the last birthday celebration that they had for him on the 17th of August, that I would not take place in this act of hypocrisy any longer until something is done to the boyhood home of Marcus Garvey," Robinson fumed.

Government and the opposition have been at daggers drawn over the issue of Garvey's house for some time. Hanna said in parliament last year that when the Bruce Golding-chaired Cabinet took the decision to restore the property in March 2010, no decision was made for the compulsory acquisition of the property or for the relocation of the occupants.

Garvey's boyhood home is now occupied by several persons who had claimed ownership, but have been unable to provide proof they have legal claim to the property. The place, which has been declared a national heritage site, was valued at $3.2 million by the National Land Agency for acquisition purposes in 2009.