The PNP’s manifesto

IT CAME at the 11th hour and doesn’t address most urgent questions about service delivery that will face new councils immediately after tomorrow’s municipal elections.

But as the adage goes, it’s better late than never. In this case, the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has made a first step towards what this newspaper, and others, have been insisting it must do if it wishes to be taken seriously as an alternative government. The party released a manifesto of sorts on local government.

However, most of the proposals are, on their face, predicated on the PNP being in control of the national government rather than being implementable by municipal councils, where it is in the majority. That is unless Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who, constitutionally, will continue to head the national government for at least the next 18 months, believes that the ideas are worthwhile and maintains his pledge to implement good policies of whatever origin.

In that regard, the PNP’s document, and the ideas therein, should provide the basis of a serious debate on the future of local government and what Jamaicans ought to expect of the system.

Eight years ago, Jamaica anchored local government in its Constitution. But Jamaicans, as the findings of recent opinion polls published by this newspaper show, have little confidence in the system and its capacity to deliver for them.

Indeed, eight to 10 Jamaicans believe that in the more than seven years since the last municipal elections were held, the performance of the local government councils, which are in charge of delivering a range of services, has, at best, been mediocre. Moreover, half of that number says that over the same period, the councils’ performance has deteriorated.

Sixty per cent of residents complained of the absence of division councillors from the communities they represent, and nearly the same proportion (57 per cent) blame councillors for poor roads.

HELD RESPONSIBLE

Councillors are also held, to varying degrees, responsible for other shortcomings in communities, including a lack of jobs.

Part of the reason for this disenchantment with local government is the general ignorance of the obligations of parish-based municipal authorities and city municipalities (Portmore) with respect to the delivery of basic services versus those that are the responsibility of the central government. This lack of knowledge looms large particularly in rural and inner-city communities, where residents are likely to be more engaged with their divisional representatives, who they expect to be involved in the provision of services.

But there are two larger, and related, problems that undermine the system. First is the political sublimation of the municipal corporations by the major parties – the PNP and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

Councillors are are not expected by their parties to act primarily as representatives of their divisions but more as agents and factotums of the parties’ MPs for the constituencies in which the councillors’ divisions fall. Mostly, the parties’ choices for candidates reinforce this presumption of their mission.

This perception of the role of councillors – notwithstanding declarations of subsidiarity being the centre of the system – is given operational legitimacy by the MPs’ greater access to state resources and the centralisation of authority in central government.

Which is not to suggest that municipal corporations are totally without power or authority. What, unfortunately, is also the case is that their leaders have largely internalised the political precepts of their parties and have, therefore, surrendered ambition, regardless of their powers under the law.

IMPORTANT

Which is where Prime Minister Holness’ recent confession of his new appreciation, while on the campaign trail, of citizens’ disillusionment with local government, and the PNP’s manifesto, is important.

Should the PNP win the majority in any of the councils, those corporations can – if that party’s leader, Mark Golding, is really serious about liberating the system and the councils muster the will to extricate themselves from the old malaise – can act quickly to get things done.

They can, as the PNP proposes, rejuvenate parish and community-development committees to enhance the quality of governance as contemplated by the law. They can also begin to work with these bodies, the private sector, civil society organisations, and law enforcement agencies to target antisocial behaviour and violent crime in communities.

The councils can also ensure, as is allowed by the Local Governance Act, that non-elected members sit on some of their committees and that the operations of the corporations are transparent and accountable.

But much of what the PNP has in its ‘manifesto’ – such as giving the councils power to manage solid waste within their jurisdictions, the authority to develop new sources of funding, and greater financial allocation for the central government to the corporations – will require Cabinet and parliamentary action, including the amendment of legislation.

Implementation of these proposals, insofar as they may be good, need not wait until after the next general election and the possibility of the PNP coming to office. They should be debated now and implemented if the current government is convinced of their worth.

Unlike what it wrongly argued in the past, the PNP loses nothing if the Government acts on its manifesto. Rather, it would gain from voters perceiving it as a party of ideas and vision rather than one, as previously appeared to be the case, hoping to reach office on the implosion of the administration and the frustration of the electorate.

This local government policy document, however, is only a start. Others should follow but not on the eve of the general election. Voters should be given clear policy choices. They already know what the Holness administration is about.