THE CONTRACTOR-GENERAL'S report has put the heat on local government. It is shocking that unregistered contractors are getting jobs from parish councils by a process that ignores central government guidelines.

It is time that Bruce Golding begins to talk about local government when he calls for good governance and constitutional reform. After all, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) controls 12 of 13 parish councils. It is not good enough to deny responsibility by saying that under the Westminster system, the winner-takes-all when the JLP controls virtually all of the parish councils.

That Westminster system has produced shared governance between central government controlled by the People's National Party (PNP) and local government, controlled by the JLP. Mr. Golding, however, remains consumed with the constitution, which is really only a constitution for central government. He has not said how term limits, fixed election dates, and separation of powers would apply to local government and how these would improve governance at all levels. The JLP has had a special opportunity to govern, not merely to oppose. But Mr. Golding has been so long in opposition that he seems obsessed only with designs to check the powers of the government.

Had the JLP been paying closer attention to local governance, it might have been able to prevent the abuse of rules pertaining to the award of contracts at the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC). In December 2005, Councillor Angela Brown-Burke proposed a resolution that the KSAC post contracts valued at over $120,000 on its website. The resolution was aimed at bringing transparency and accountability to the council. The JLP majority in the council voted down the resolution. Mr. Golding's response was to fudge the issue by saying that government must post all contracts on its websites and he would discuss the matter with JLP mayors. This was not strong enough and whatever was discussed obviously did not have any effect.

The problem goes beyond this, however. Our political culture is skewed towards central authority while being anti-authority at the same time. To the extent that we pay any attention to authority, it is to central government authority, largely ignoring local government. Portmore has an active citizens' association. Its government has also been guilty of violating contracts procedures. How did citizens manage to allow this to go unnoticed? Had the Portmore citizens' association been as vigilant towards its municipal government as it has been towards tolls for its highway, it might have been able to prevent the lax and loose system of contracts reported there as well.

POWERS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Citizens and representatives have more local power under Westminster than they believe. For example, the St. James Parish Council had commissioned an audit of its powers to ascertain what laws were required to permit it to undertake certain tasks. The committee found that existing laws already provided it with those powers. How many parish councils know what they are empowered to do under the law?

The St. James Parish Council discovered, for instance, that it could raise loans on the market to carry out its own work. The council has now approached a bank to secure a loan with approval from the ministries of Local Government and Finance. It will repay the loan from the budget provided by central government. This is a model that many other local governments can duplicate.

The Portmore municipality has entered a private arrangement to build a state-of-the-art hospital for Portmore. That is to be commended and these plans can be shared with other local governments so that they can attract private investments as well. Shared governance is not just about sharing power. It is about sharing ideas, plans, methods, and experience.

Citizens and their local governments can do even more to enhance their power. Mayor George Lee has said that the compliance rate for property taxes in Portmore is only 38 per cent, and the municipal council only gets 10 per cent of all property taxes collected.

The Mayor of Montego Bay has proposed establishing municipal courts to pursue delinquents who owe the city government taxes, fines and fees in order to have the revenue to spend on the city and parish. Other local governments should study the idea to see if municipal courts should be established for their cities, or regions. In fact, parish councillors should convene a conference each year at which they share new ideas and experiences in local government. Power sharing should share the power of ideas.

Councillor Angela Brown-Burke's idea to have contracts published on the KSAC's website is one that other parish councils would do well to take on. The Patterson administration had agreed to appoint ethics officers for central government. We should have ethics officers for local government councils as well, because if you close off opportunities for corruption at one level, people will find ways of benefiting at other levels.

WIN-WIN POLITICS

We conceive of politics as a win-lose game between government and opposition. But win-win situations are possible between government and opposition, and central and local government.

If local governments develop good plans, they can go to the market and secure loans. If they bring in more revenue, they will be able to spend more for community development. If they enforce regulations, they can make law and order work. All of these can be done with the backing of central government.

The St. James Parish Council is refurbishing its offices to make them more customer- friendly and effective in accelerating application processes with clients. If other parish councils raise more revenue they can hire more urban planners and speed up the application process so that businessmen can establish businesses more quickly and people can build houses more speedily. They would be able to hire more building officers and more superintendents of roads and works. They could buy more modern equipment like computers with up-to-date software. They could buy smaller garbage trucks that could go into areas served by narrow roads, as has been proposed.

MOST PROGRESSIVE

In fact, the St. James Parish Council seems to be most progressive of the lot. It has determined its powers under public health, waste management, and police laws, and exercised its powers to close or prosecute bars, restaurants and supermarkets that operate without licences and violate laws. It has shut down illegal garages and removed vehicles that violate zoning laws. It has enforced the Nuisances Prevention Act by applying to the courts for permission to demolish unsightly and dangerous abandoned buildings, something the KSAC needs to do to make downtown Kingston a less ugly and dangerous place.

The government of St. James obviously does not buy into the stale complaint that under the Westminster system, the opposition loses all, or that local government is a mere footstool of central government. The real potential of local government has never been tested. The powers of government cannot be determined merely from a constitution. They reside in imaginative and committed leadership. St. James and Portmore best demonstrate this potential.

Kingston and St. Andrew and St. Catherine are disappointing. Constitutions only provide the structure within which governments operate but it is people who make governments successful. The failure to monitor contracts is one sad symptom of this lack of effectiveness. The complaint that the opposition/local government has no power is another.

Robert Buddan is a lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies. You can send your comments to robert.buddan@uwimona.edu.jm.