Robert Buddan, Contributor

On the occasion of International Coastal Clean-Up Day (September 16), the Jamaica Information Service reported: "Since 1986, more than five million volunteers in 123 countries have participated in the International Coastal Clean-Up Day and collectively, they have cleaned 130,000 miles of shoreline, which is five times the circumference of the globe".

It is amazing that people, acting purely as conscientious citizens, can make such a big difference. Every four years, people clean up shoreline the length of the circumference of the globe. Jamaicans did their part. Citizens of Treasure Beach and Bluefields must be commended for cleaning up their beaches.

In fact, all of this fits well with the Prime Minister's announcement of a large sum of money that is to be spent to clean up and beautify Jamaica and to prepare the country for Cricket World Cup next year.

Some might see this as a 'crash programme' but it is more than that. It is about pride in country and responsibility by people. Take another example. The Clarendon Health Department, Chapelton Police Youth Club, and Peace Corps volunteers, cleaned up and beautified the town and roadway leading to the Chapelton Hospital last week. They have a two-year programme to make citizens aware of their environment and do more to maintain it.

From Self-Government to self-governance

The politics of the 21st Century should move us from self-government to self-governance. If self-government meant that Jamaicans should form their own government, independent of Britain, self-governance should mean that Jamaicans should be more engaged in the governance of their communities and interests independently of but in partnership with government where necessary. Citizens should not leave governments to do things themselves because governments do not know enough or have enough resources to do everything the best way. Many important things might not get done or get done properly and in good time. Therefore, people and their own organisation must act. They must be a part of governance.

Running a country is everyone's business. Every citizen is a potential arm in the governing process. Governing is not just the business of government. It is the business of all citizens and their organizations. The idea that government can be all things to all people was always a fallacy. The idea of the all-powerful, all-knowing government was never true. As once said, any government that is strong enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take away everything you've got.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller reiterated the idea of governance by all on her visit to Cuba to attend the Non-Aligned Summit two weeks ago. She told Jamaicans studying in Cuba that, "We have to work to get to the stage to accomplish the things we want to and it is not going to happen by just the Prime Minister working. It is going to happen with every single Jamaican accepting his or her responsibility and all of us working together to ensure the growth and development of our Homeland". Jamaica's Ambassador to Cuba, Elinor Sherlock, made the same point nicely by reminding the students that this is what is meant in the National Anthem that calls us to, 'respond to duty's call'.

It is not enough to say we pay our taxes so governments must do the work. Not all of us pay all our taxes. And beyond that, taxes are not by themselves intelligent. It is people who must direct the uses to which taxes are put by adding their intelligence. Taxes don't work by themselves. People must make them work intelligently. Besides, since taxes can't pay for everything, our own voluntary efforts must be part of the investment we put into growth and development. It is for these reasons why it is said that the most important resource of a country are its people.

Voting for Governance

It makes sense for voters to listen closely to the parties to see which has the better plan for broadening people's participation in governance. People must have ways to get heard. But they must organise.

People must think about whether tourism development in Ocho Rios is going to overwhelm water supply for those citizens. They must make sure that government is planning long term just as the NWC has plans to supply Portmore with water over the next 20 years.

They must consider if Caribbean free trade will expose Jamaican consumers to unknown pesticides from the region. Farmers and consumers should want to support the Pesticides Control Authority so that they can better make their concerns known to CARICOM's Council for Trade and Economic Development.

Parents should know what obligations they have and what penalties they face under the Child Care and Protection Act. The Government says it will come down hard against child abusers. The Child Development Agency wants parents to know their responsibilities. PTA's should organize meetings with the CDA for parents and children.

People are talking about the dangers to the child when mothers do not breastfeed. Mothers should ask their parish health authorities to explain the issues just like the Westmoreland Health Department mobilized students, parents, and teachers to draw attention to Breastfeeding Week.

People in Portland, St. Thomas, Westmoreland, St. James and Trelawny suffer from the highest parish rates of poisoning from pesticides and chemicals like bleach. The Pesticides Authority is educating Public Health Officers and citizens about this. Are other citizens organized to make sure they get that education?

People in communities should know that they can form Hometown Associations with Jamaicans overseas who come from their own communities to assist with their schools, farms, police stations, and hospitals and that the Jamaica Diaspora Foundation exists to assist them with this.

When people already face high utility bills, do they organize themselves to question the merit of bill payment companies charging them just to pay their bills? They must let the Office of Utilities Regulation know. They might find that they get a sympathetic ear but the OUR needs citizens to back it up.

Are citizens organized to make sure that the Land Valuation Unit will meet its target for dealing with complaints, and that the Land Titles Office is similarly on track to distribute the promised number of titles within a specified period?

Accepting New Governance

This is a sample of the many ways that citizens can organize so that they are not forgotten, ignored and left behind by government agencies. Too often it is these agencies themselves that set targets, evaluate their performance and organize to educate and protect citizens. But citizens need to hurry them up, make sure that things are prevented before they go wrong, and that effective ways are found to educate them.

Citizens must make sure that when their leaders make announcements they will follow up. Members of Parliament must help citizens to build their organisations for self-help. They must help them to find their own solutions, because otherwise, it is the MP who is followed around from morning 'till night to get every little thing done.

Citizens must know that voting alone will not change all that they want changed. Much of the change lies in their hands and it takes vigilance on their part to make governance work for all. For those who say there is too much government and politics in our lives, it might be because there are too little strong alternative organisations of civil society and the private sector, and government occupies more space than it should, by default.

Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, UWI. Email: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm