President fends off WPA criticism over local gov’t commission
The coalition government has not failed to establish the Local Government Commission (LGC), according to President David Granger who said yesterday that efforts are being made to get the body up and running in the shortest possible time.
“We have not failed. We are working on that. We are working on the early establishment of that commission. As you know we have done a lot of work this year to ensure that the judicial institutions are well staffed…the public service appellate tribunal, the ombudsman”, he said in response to a question from Stabroek News on the concerns recently expressed by the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) on this issue.
When they were in opposition, APNU and the AFC had called stridently for local government elections and the setting up of the commission. While the government held long-awaited local government elections last year, more than a year has elapsed without the LGC being formed. Many hiring and firing decisions are now being handled at the Public Service Commission and the Ministry of Communities instead of at the LGC.
At a press conference on Monday, WPA executive member, Dr. David Hinds had said that the establishment of the LGC is long overdue.
“There should be much more reform in the local government system. We have advocated a return to the village council because we believe that at that basic level people should be involved in decision making. We are for a deepening of local government,” Hinds had said. The WPA is part of the governing coalition.
At State House yesterday, Granger shortly after swearing in Dela Britton as the Chair of the Public Utilities Commission, took questions from the media.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon at the same forum informed that Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo recently met with representatives of the coalition government. That meeting was held during the first break of the June 15, 2017 sitting of the National Assembly but the only government representative present was Desmond Trotman.
Harmon told reporters that Jagdeo was required to submit names to the Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan who has indicated that he wanted to understand the basis upon which the names were chosen.
“The requirement is that the Leader of
the Opposition consults with the political parties in the National Assembly before a list is created and submitted to the minister”, he said, adding that how the list is to be constructed is now being looked at. Observers note that the law in question doesn’t require the Leader of the Opposition to explain the basis on which names are chosen.
Since winning the May 11, 2015 elections, the APNU+AFC government has not moved with alacrity to establish the body. The LGC is provided for in Guyana’s Constitution. Article 78 (a) reads: “Parliament shall establish a Local Government Commission, the composition and rules of which empower the commission to deal with as it deems fit, all matters related to the regulation and staffing of local government organs and with dispute resolution within and between local government organs.”
Under the law it will not only oversee municipalities and Neighbourhood Demo-cratic Councils but also Regional Demo-cratic Councils as well as Amerindian Village Councils.
According to the legislation, the LGC will be made up of eight members: three nominated by the president, one nominated by the minister (Bulkan) after consultation with the 71 LGA, one nominated by unions operating in the local government sector and three nominated by the Leader of the Opposition after consultation with all parliamentary parties.
In April 2016, the Committee of Appointments named Andrew Christopher Garnett, of the Guyana Local Government Officers’ Union as the nominee from the trade unions. This nomination was approved by the House in August 2016.