Waiting for reform in the midst of floods and under-development…

THE SEVEN-YEAR LOCAL GOVERNMENT ITCH 

SEVEN years ago, Dr. Keith Rowley’s PNM promised to utilise the local government sector in solving society’s ills. 

The PNM vowed to “remove all of the red tape and bureaucracy that prevent local government bodies from doing their work in an effective and efficient manner”. 

The party said in its 2015 general election manifesto that programmes would be “tailor-made to suit the specific needs of our 14 municipal regions”. 

“Several tasks and functions” carried out by central government “can be more effectively handled by local government bodies,” the PNM attested. 

Local government bodies were assured of “adequacy of funding” and “autonomy to develop and implement their own regional policies, plans and programmes”. 

Like several other electoral pledges, local government reform has since been filed under the “failed promises” column. 

Sure, there is draft legislation, but this has been bogged down by parliamentary rituals and governmental inertia. 

So, seven years into Rowley’s national leadership, the local government sector remains marginalised from national development and a victim of prejudicial funding. 

Opposition-held corporations – which roughly cover about half of the geographic landscape of Trinidad – are routine victims of inadequate financial allocations, according to their leaders. 

That means waterways are not properly dredged to avert floods and truck-borne supplies are insufficient during the dry season. 

The fall-off includes a lack of maintenance of secondary roads and parks and recreation grounds, inefficient waste disposal and other faltering services. 

Local government agencies are unable to fully undertake their duties in primary health care, education, security, environment and various community matters. 

There have been no measures at turning the sector into emergency first responders to natural disasters. 

The much-vaunted decentralisation has dispersed into electoral hot air. 

This vital segment of governance remains under-resourced, worsening hardship among citizens, especially those in communities led by the political opposition. 

Talk of restructuring becomes vogue at each local government election season, and such a poll is due by December 2. 

At least Rowley, as Prime Minister, deserves credit for summoning the election on time, unlike Patrick Manning, who put off several triennial polls on the bogus assurance of imminent reform. 

Against the growing drumbeat of LG election, showman minister Faris al Rawi last week called an ill-defined meeting of the sector’s main players. 

Rowley was on the playbill but declined to attend on the bizarre justification of a boycott by anti-government councillors and aldermen. 

The Prime Minister’s bewildering refusal to attend prompts searching questions about what were his talking points—assuming, of course, that he had a coherent message. 

Rowley’s decision to shun the meeting suggests that he would not attend a sitting of Parliament if the Opposition stays away. 

As it turned out, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar received the dirty end of the stick from the media, PNM and home-grown critics. 

Whatever the political wisdom of the Opposition foment, the relevant simmering issue is the continued neglect of the local government sector, especially while the national infrastructure crumbles. 

The crucial matters are disastrous roads, weak water supply even during the rainy season, poor drainage, abandoned streams, overgrown playgrounds, broken down bridges etc. 

Ironically, the situation is compounded by the PNM administration’s establishment of a Ministry of Rural Development “to focus exclusively on rural areas and their speedy development…” 

The ministry was designed to “improve the quality of life and economic well-being of people living there.” 

 Instead, rural communities are being relegated to a wilderness of neglect and negligence at the hands of an urban-centric and callously biased administration. 

Al Rawi’s vacuous meeting and Rowley’s inexplicable absence are clear indicators of a lack of impetus in reforming the long-suffering LG sector. 

So, there is no forthcoming relief of the seven-year itch of LG disregard. 

The Persad-Bissessar-inspired snubbing of the session is an anguished response, especially to the chronic under-funding of corporations under her party’s watch. 

Who in the kitchen feels the heat and the Opposition Leader is doubtlessly familiar with adversity in rural districts and the anguish of her voting pool. 

Political hi-jinks, however, would not resolve the clear and present LG issues. 

Instead, society must demand a strict timeline for implementation of the long-promised reform. 

Rowley must own up to his party’s 2015 general election pledges. 

Al Rawi must set aside his theatrical mode and work steadfastly to make the crucial sector relevant to the critical needs of citizens, especially those in far-flung districts ill-served by central government. 

The dramatics of a mock meeting would not cure the ills of under-development. 

The government must deliver on its seven-year promise!