Jones and Henry-Wilson
Tamara King, Staff Reporter
OPPOSITION LEADER Edward Seaga has warned that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) would not take it lightly if central government starves the Parish Councils of financial resources.
"We are concerned about funding because it is not adequate and we don't know how the Government may treat with the situation," Mr. Seaga said in an interview on Friday.
He said his party, which won 11 of the Parish Councils and the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation in Thursday's Local Government elections, would depend on public opinion to ensure that the Government behaves fair.
"Frankly the Government would be very unwise to risk anything unsettling in the country," he stated.
However, Keith Miller, Local Government consultant, believes the fears are
unfounded.
He said that Local Government reform has helped to protect the people's interest by providing the Parish Councils with a more direct and independent means of accessing funding.
"There are several aspects that are good," he told The Sunday Gleaner when asked if a divided Central and Local Government can be beneficial to the people. "This will result in a more vigorous advocacy on the part of the councils. There will be far more energy and diversity in terms of putting forward representations," he said.
MAIN PRINCIPLES
According to Mr. Miller, "One of the main principles of the reform was to try to minimise the possibility of discrimination by making the sources of funding more independent and therefore not subjected to discretion."
In the early 1990s the Parish Councils derived 95 per cent of their revenue in the form of Central Government grants, which was discretionary, said Mr. Miller. He added that currently, 60 per cent of the revenue comes from sources that have been dedicated to the Councils with a precise formula aimed at eliminating the use of discretion.
Under the Local Government reform, Parish Councils across the island earn revenue from property tax and a part of fees paid on motor vehicles. This, Mr. Miller believe, has given local authorities some autonomy and will serve to cushion the councils from any real or perceived sabotage.
Edwin Jones, professor of Public Administration at the University of the West Indies, when questioned about the implications of the JLP's victory said, "This pattern of Central Government divide is the sharpest expression of a division in the modern political history of Jamaica."
NEW SITUATION
He said the new situation calls for mutual learning on the part of all political actors. "This development offers an opportunity for new governance and contracts in partnership. This would involve a system of power sharing with the checks and balances reinforcing the political impulses in Jamaica."
Professor Jones said that the JLP's electoral victory can serve to enhance the system of checks and balances and result in greater transparency in governance. A divided Central and Local Government, said Professor Jones, will help to arrest the complacency on the part of Central Government.
However, he cautioned that it requires meaningful and responsible actions on the part of the central players and the local players.
"If they behave irresponsibly and immature, Jamaica will suffer... It is a risky process. Central Government must be fair in its allocation of resources to local authorities and local authorities must also be balanced in their behaviour," he said. "This new balance means that each must recognised the complementary but separate responsibility of each other."
Opposition Leader, Edward Seaga who is no stranger to a divided central and local Government as in 1986, the PNP who was then in opposition swept the Local Government elections and took charge at the parochial level. But, Mr. Seaga told The Sunday Gleaner, circumstances were different then.
He said that the economic realities at that time were better and there was not any dire need for funding as there is now.
"Today it is quite the opposite. There are a lot of protests today than existed at that time. The people will expect the Parish Councils to do something to help them and we will either help them or join them in the protest," he said.
However, Maxine Henry-Wilson, Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, said that the PNP will maintain a consultative process. "I expect that the policy (of the JLP on Local Government issues) will arrive out of a consultative process," she told The Sunday Gleaner.
JLP to examine parish issues
THE JAMAICA Labour Party will begin a series of meetings tomorrow and will have a retreat next Sunday to examine overall leadership in the various parishes and specific issues to do with local government administration.
Party leader Edward Seaga said it was critical that this be done quickly given the Government's confusion over exactly what to do with Local Government.
"Nobody is clear what the Government's position on Local Government reform is," he said.
He noted that first there was a proposal for regionalisation to reduce the number of councils to about four or five.
Subsequently there was a proposal for more municipalities.
But, he said, the structure of the municipalities would see most resources concentrated in a particular area, making them incompatible with the rest of the parish councils.
"There would be a drain of resources. We have to examine the systems. We need to look at what is practical," he said.
Mr. Seaga said while he had not examined the budgetary allocations to Local Government, the new municipality of Portmore, for example, would need an additional $170 million just to function and address the many areas of concern.
"There is some money available for spending and there is the Equalisation Fund but that is not nearly enough. Resources will be needed from central Government," he said.
In his criticisms of the Government's proposals for Local Government reform he noted that they had also suggested the formation of Parish Development Committees somewhat similar to those of the Social Development Commission.
"This is a recipe for confusion. When you have so many committees in discussions very little that is practical actually gets done. So essentially what we will be doing is an evaluation of what can be done by the JLP; how we can work with the Minister (of Local Government) without slowing the process of addressing people's needs," he said.
