Arnold Bertram: Ball now squarely in his court.
Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter
THERE is no question that our Parish Councils which rely a great deal on holding on to statutory deductions from employees' salaries to finance their operations, could be self-sufficient, if properly managed.
The biggest challenge facing the Councils, however, is that most of them lack the requisite management skills and are made up of councillors who are unsophisticated.
This is clearly evident in the level of the debates that take place at Council meetings - ranks are usually closed along party lines, little else seems to matter.
As such they are unable to recognise, even oblivious to, the fact that they are sitting on potential gold mines from which they could finance their operations without having to be so heavily dependent on Central Government.
The gold mine referred to relates to the numerous revenue sources that have not been tapped in years, perhaps some were never explored.
Many Jamaicans would be surprised to know that the Parish Councils including the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) which complain so much of being under-funded, can levy a fee for hoarding on persons who dump building materials such as sand and gravel on the sidewalk! Also, a fee is chargeable for any sign or structure that encroaches on Parish Council roads.
The Councils, barring none, have failed to capitalise on trade licences.
These are applicable to all persons conducting business locally, regardless of the nature of the business.
The KSAC aside, all others have fallen down as far as the issuance of entertainment licences are concerned.
With the high volume of stage shows and other entertainment events taking place throughout the island, especially during public holidays, they have allowed a small fortune to go a-begging.
Yet they complain of having no money, and hold on to deductions made from their employees' emoluments.
The said employees are at risk of not being able to access, on a timely basis, their National Housing Trust (NHT) and National Insurance Scheme (NIS) benefits. The practice is illegal.
The responsibility for the islands park's and markets is vested in the Parish Councils but they have allowed the generators of commercial garbage to get away without paying for its disposal.
Hoarding
Parks and markets agencies like Metropolitan Parks and Markets (MPM) are mandated to collect residential garbage. However, much of their time is spent collecting commercial garbage for which they are not compensated.
Now back to the question of hoarding. Whereas the fees charged for activity may be small/outdated (they could not be ascertained), the St. Catherine Parish Council has been particularly tardy.
When the Ministry of Local Government which has oversight responsibility for Parish Councils appeared before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last month, it was revealed that the St. Catherine PC was owed nearly $5 million in barbers/hairdressers fees and $31,550 in butchers fees.
It was also owed $108,200 for the lease/rental of property and promised that "efforts are on the way to take stringent action".
St. Catherine residents are suddenly being assured that their local authority after years of indifference when it did not even bother to attempt to collect what was owed to it will as of now be taking stringent action!
The fact is that not much of that money can now be collected as many of those barbers, hairdressers and butchers have long gone out of business.
Why is the St. Catherine PC probably the worse of the lot? Apart from a management that is not capable of collecting fees when they become due, it has missed a glorious opportunity over the last 10 years to latch on to a revenue source.
With the construction boom taking place in Greater Portmore thousands of homes have been built in the last 10 years it should have capitalised on imposing a fee for building materials deposited on the road side.
After all that's called hoarding. In fact, the opportunity would have been missed 25-30 years earlier when the development of Portmore got under way in earnest.
There is not one Portmore resident I know who has paid a cent for storing building material on the sidewalk, which the Council will have to turn around and repair after it is destroyed by the said material.
Most express surprise when told they could be charged for the practice.
Model Parish Council
It is not all gloom and doom at the Councils, however, as the Mandeville PC, which is run by the able Horace Williams was rated a model PC at the last PAC meeting by Denzel Wilks, Principal Financial Officer in the Local Government Ministry.
Manchester had managed to clear its outstanding balance of $10.1 million in statutory deductions and was now current with its payments.
It had collected nearly $200,000 of the $241,000 it was owed for the lease/rental of its properties.
The KSAC, under strong leadership from Town Clerk Errol Greene, has made significant strides since the university graduate with Wall Street experience took control about three years ago.
With his financial background, he quickly realised that spending money was the best way to earn it.
There is now a monthly return of near $500,000 for the Corporation following his decision to spend $3.6 million to upgrade five municipal car parks in the congested New Kingston business district.
Mr. Greene's much-publicised 'zero tolerance' campaign early in 2000 has also reaped dividends for the KSAC.
Operators of entertainment venues in the Corporate Area now expect the KSAC to come calling if they refuse to apply for a licence before staging an event.
A zero tolerance approach was also taken by the Town Clerk in respect to those motorists who insist on parking in no-parking areas.
This has benefited not just the KSAC but wrecking companies and the Transport Authority who split the proceeds of the towing fees.
A major drawback for the KSAC, however, is its mayor, Marie Atkins, perhaps the most inept the country has had, and for such a long time more than 11 years in the chair. She has been a councillor for many more.
Regardless of how poor the quality of the current crop of councillors at the KSAC is and it is poor there are others far more capable than Mrs. Atkins, others who can represent the country without giving people palpitations every time they open their mouths to speak.
Her deputy, Larel Thomas, or Angela Brown-Burke, a newcomer to the KSAC, would do a far better job.
Mrs. Atkins has demonstrated that she is incapable of leading from the front and most times loses the handle while presiding over the monthly council meetings.
Setting standards
The ball is now squarely in the court of Local Government Minister, Arnold Bertram.
With the backing of his Cabinet colleagues he has already used Local Government reform as an excuse for postponing the local polls which are now unlikely before the next General Election.
He must understand that the reform process should start in the Parish Councils. There needs to be closer scrutiny of the people who make themselves available as councillors.
The time has come for performance standards to be set for councillors who are now being paid a salary, plus travelling expenses by taxpayers.
A way must be found to replace the stragglers. If the Minister fails to do so then his so-called reform would be a grand waste of time.
Inaction on his part would not be a surprise, however, as he could be expected to play true to form like the rest of his People's National Party (PNP) administration.
After all, Montego Bay's mayor, Hugh Solomon, as efficient as he is said to be should not have been rewarded with being asked to run on a PNP ticket in the upcoming election.
He was at the helm at the time of the Street People scandal which implicated the Montego Bay PC. I still think he should have resigned.
That being water under the bridge, I'm convinced that if Minister Bertram is decisive, if the reforms are meaningful and far-reaching we could yet end up with local authorities capable of managing their affairs capable of enforcing the laws on their books. With some luck they could achieve the autonomy they crave.
