TOWARDS LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM IN ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES by Dr. the Honourable Ralph E. Gonsalves Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Speech Delivered at the Formal Launch of the Local Government Reform Commission on June 21, 2004 at the Office of the Prime Minister, Kingstown St. Vincent and the Grenadines Office of the Prime Minister Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines June 21, 2004 TOWARDS LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM IN ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES by Dr. The Honourable Ralph E. Gonsalves Prime Minister, St. Vincent and the Grenadines INTRODUCTION Today marks an important historical milestone in the journey towards the reform of local government in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Today signifies the formal launch of the Local Government Reform Commission (LGRC) for which His Excellency the Governor-General issued appropriate instruments of appointment on April 20, 2004. This nation, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is a valued component of our Caribbean civilization, has been acknowledged regionally and internationally as being in the forefront of the practitioners of political democracy. This democratic practice is not evident merely every five years at general elections; it is a day-to- day lived experience for all our people. Several international organizations and respected governments have applauded St. Vincent and the Grenadines for its democratic precepts and practices. This has been especially so since the Unity Labour Party (ULP) administration came to office after the general elections of March 29, 2001. Our government’s excellent record in the practice of democracy, and good governance generally, is recognized, too, by the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. But, as always, as in life and production, so, too, in governance, there is room for further enhancement or improvement. For one thing, power and authority under existing constitutional or governance arrangements are too centralised. This ULP government has been rolling back such centralisation through, among other things, the establishment and efficacious functioning of structured mechanisms for consultation between the State, on the one hand, and traditional and newer non- governmental organisations, on the other. The setting up of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDEC) which body comprises representatives of all major non- governmental organisations and relevant state administrators is but one excellent example. The NESDEC has full ownership of the government’s poverty alleviation programme which along with education constitutes the main priorities of this ULP government. Similarly, law-making has become an exercise in popular consultative democracy, in many cases live on radio. Parliament, too, is broadcast live on radio and television. More and more the centralised governmental structures are being constrained and influenced by an informed people and an alive constitutionalism engendered by a people-centred government. The restructuring of democratic governance has been, and is being, fully debated in this country in and out of Parliament. Constitutional re-making is at the forefront of the nation’s political agenda: A 25-member Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), consisting of representatives of the major non-governmental organisations and the political parties, has been established by Parliament to conduct a root-and-branch review of the Constitution. The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) commenced its work in January 2003. The entire exercise of constitutional reform, from start to finish, is expected to take about three years —a thorough-going process in which the nation is being transformed into an advanced school of political and legal education.
The decentralisation of political decision-making and policy-implementation is one of the issues in constitutional reform. This no doubt holds implications for local governance. But local government reform does not have to await the conclusion of the process of constitutional reform. Simultaneously, our Parliament has debated the re-introduction of local government and on March 12, 2002, by resolution, it mandated the Executive to appoint a Commission on Local Government to examine the issue and make appropriate recommendations for the establishment of democratic local government on a timely basis. Regrettably, for a host of understandable reasons, including our focus on constitutional reform and the possibility of consultation fatigue by the people, we are behind schedule on this issue. The time and circumstances are now assessed to be propitious to move forward on local government reform. The operative part of the parliamentary motion on local government reform resolved as follows: “That this Honourable House direct the Government to set up promptly a Commission to inquire publicly into and report upon the most appropriate forms of Local Government for St. Vincent and the Grenadines with a view to establishing genuine, democratic Local Government for St. Vincent and the Grenadines within twelve months of the passage of this motion.” We are now moving forward in accordance with the dictates of Parliament. CHEQUERED HISTORY Local government has had a most chequered history in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As early as November 18, 1897, the colonial government passed a Kingstown Board Ordinance so as to establish a corporate body for the capital city, Kingstown, and to make provision in other respects for its government. This Kingstown Board was partly elected, on a limited franchise based on property ownership, and partly nominated. Interestingly, in 1897 there were no elected representatives whatsoever in the colony’s legislative body, the Legislative Council, which then comprised only of nominated members and officials; it was not until 1925 that a limited elective element was re-introduced in the Legislative Council after over fifty years of pure Crown Colony government. So, the Kingstown Board at the turn of the twentieth century had an elected component, though on a limited franchise, but the Legislative Council had none. Through legislative and practical evolutions, the Kingstown Board became a more vibrant body with a moderately authoritative Chairman. This Kingstown Board did not survive the 1970, a few years after internal selfgovernment was achieved nationally in 1969. In fact, it was the Labour Party government which restored a local government structure, albeit centrally-directed, and piloted through Parliament on October 6, 1981, almost two years after formal constitutional independence, through the Kingstown Board (Termination of Dissolution) Act. By virtue of that Act, the Kingstown Board was restored but under the suzerainty of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry responsible for Local Government. Outside of the capital city Kingstown, there was for some years prior to 1951, a limited measure of structured local government in the other towns on mainland St. Vincent, namely, Calliaqua, Georgetown, Layou, Barrourallie and Chateaubelair and in the Grenadine Islands of Bequia and Union Island. In 1951, elections to the colony’s Legislative Council were held for the first time under universal adult suffrage. And on May 29, 1951, a Local Government Act was passed establishing local government authorities in the main population centers outside of Kingstown, partly elected and partly nominated. They were imbued with limited authority. Over time, local government of a narrow kind was dispersed to other geographical areas until they, too, were dissolved in the 1970. They, too, were restored by way of the Local Authorities (Termination of Dissolution) Act of 1981 and placed under the central direction of the relevant Ministry through the Local Government Officer, in reality, the Permanent Secretary. The upshot of all this is that currently in
Kingstown and the remainder of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, local government is but an administrative mechanism for effecting central government direction and authority in a limited sphere of activities. This is an unacceptable state of affairs assessed in terms of an efficient, costeffective, delivery of certain basic services and the practical decentralisation of democracy. It is this situation that the ULP administration has pledged to change for the better. LESSONS TO BE DRAWN What are some of the lessons which can be drawn from the less than wholesome experiences with local government in a small country, St. Vincent and the Grenadines? First, neither directly elected local government authorities nor centrally-administered local government has produced commendable results in the efficient and practical delivery of the designated public services. Ironically, elected or partly-elected local government bodies prior to the emergence and consolidation of political parties appeared to have functioned reasonably well, comparatively-speaking. Competitive local government elections in the era of consolidated party politics served to divide local communities along partisan political lines without throwing up A sufficiency of quality candidates for local governance. I think that this has been the experience, to a greater or lesser degree, in countries such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The result, by and large, has been ineffective local government riddled with political patronage and even corruption amidst sharply-divided communities, politically. Secondly, centrally-administered local government structures exclude meaningful community participation by worthy individuals directly or through viable non-governmental organizations (NGO). Such exclusion contributes to increased alienation of the people from the political system. Further, centrally-administered local government authorities have tended to attract a lowerquality personnel and have, for the most part, shown themselves to be strangers to efficiency and political and administrative hygiene. Thirdly, the small size of St. Vincent and the Grenadines militates against a too-highly tiered system of local government which would add additional expense without necessarily contributing a more effective delivery of public services. Fourthly, the vibrancy of competitive parliamentary democracy, in small constituencies, in this small society makes it in my view, unnecessary and undesirable to have such competitive elections replicated at the local or community levels. Fifthly, the multi-island nature of our nation-state demands special local government arrangements for the Grenadine islands without in anyway undermining the unitary character of the State. Sixthly, the local governance structures cannot be fashioned in away which would undermine the work of the central government. Thus, the local authorities cannot be in the hands of a political party other than the one which is in power at the central level. If it were to be otherwise, paralysis and confusion in governance will result. In my view, the challenge, therefore, is to design local government systems: (i) To capture a satisfactory element of representative democracy without deepening partisan political divisiveness; (ii) To incorporate non-governmental organisations and meritorious individuals into the local government structures so as to enhance popular participation and efficiency in governance; and (iii) To link effectively with a reformed central government apparatus and the restructured constitutional framework. All this demands a new and radically improved system of governance which abandons statist or commandist approaches and which, at the same time, embraces a people-centred or
communitarian path lodged within the political realities of a small nation-state and a wider, ennobling ambit of our Caribbean civilisation. Indeed, our civilisation resonates with community consciousness. The American sociologist, Amitai Etzioni, a passionate advocate of a community-based philosophy, argues in his The Spirit of Community, published in 1995, simply: “Communitarians call to restore civic virtues, for people to live up to their responsibilities and not merely focus on their entitlements, and to shore up the moral foundations of society.— “Communities are social webs of people who know one another as persons and have a moral voice. Communities draw on interpersonal bonds to encourage members to abide by shared values. — Communities gently chastise those who violate shared moral norms and express approbation for those who abide by them. They turn to the state (courts, police) only when all else fails. Hence, the more viable communities are, the less the need for policing”. The democratic state, with a reformed constitutional apparatus, and a reformed local government system, and communities must work together in relative harmony so as to achieve good governance and an improved quality of life for the people, individually and as a whole. In devising appropriate local government structures for a small state like St. Vincent and the Grenadines, it is unlikely that the experiences of local governments in large countries such as the United States of America, United Kingdom, India, Brazil, Mexico, or Argentina may be of much help. Indeed, even the Jamaican example may yield few practical lessons save and except that of the dangers of intolerant political partisanship in direct, local government elections. A micro-state like St. Vincent and the Grenadines has to fashion a model sui generis. The Terms of Reference for the Local Government Reform Commission (LGRC) provide an appropriate framework to work out a model of local governance suited to the circumstances of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These Terms of Reference are as follows: “1. To examine and critically review the system or structure which exists for the delivery of services to the public at the local level through the Ministry of Social Development and Local Government and its institutional agencies, the Kingstown Board, other Town Boards, and the various village or district councils throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines, including the system or structure which exists for the delivery or services to the public in the Grenadines through the Northern Grenadines Administration and Southern Grenadines Administration located in the Office of the Prime Minister. “2. To recommend any new systems or structures assessed to be necessary and desirable to replace, alter, complement or supplement the existing systems or structures referred to in the preceding paragraph bearing in mind the following, among other considerations:(i) The extant Constitution of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the organs of State administration, including the public service; (ii) Cost effectiveness and more efficient delivery of services to the public; (iii) Enhanced democratic participation through indirect election or selection to provide adequate and proportional representation for the political parties upon which tickets representatives were elected to Parliament, and for non-governmental groups or community-based organizations, but to ensure that such enhanced popular participation is devoid, as far as practicable, of intolerant or divisive political partisanship; (iv) A devising of systems for structures which takes account of traditional community entities; (v) A fashioning of systems or structures which seeks to build a community consensus which is active and problem-solving; (vi) A recognition of the special circumstances of Kingstown, and the Northern and Southern Grenadines; (vii) An effecting of a workable local government system which coincides geographically with constituency boundaries save and except in Kingstown; and
(viii) A recognition that the financing of local government services will come through the central government and non-tax sources. “3. To recommend an appropriate and workable method or arrangement of financing which avoids putting taxation powers in the hands of the local government entities. “4. To delineate, both generally and specifically, the areas for the delivery of services which ought to be within the jurisdiction (exclusive and/or concurrent) of the local government entities. “5. To submit a final Report of Findings and recommendations to the Governor General within six months of the date of the Commission’s appointment. “6. To do all and everything which is necessary and desirable for the fulfillment of the terms of the preceding five paragraphs, including the devising of its own procedures, its own internal administrative structures, and its system of consultation with the general public and organized civil society.” In view of all of this, I put on the table for consideration by the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Commission on Local Government Reform the following basic ideas or suggestions for an appropriate system of local government for St. Vincent and the Grenadines: 1. The current Kingstown Board be transformed into the Kingstown Corporation, the head of which will be a Mayor. The Corporate area of Kingstown will include the city of Kingstown and all other geographic areas which make up the three electoral constituencies of Kingstown: East, Central and West. The Council of the Kingstown Corporation will contain both indirectly elected or nominated persons, politically effected, and representatives from non-governmental or community-based organisations. The persons politically chosen will be on the basis proportionately of the number of elected representatives in the House of Assembly. Representatives from the non-governmental or community-based organisations (CBO) will hold the balance of opinion. These will be appointed by the Governor-General upon the advice of the Prime Minister after consultations with the relevant NGO and CBO. So, if the Council of the Kingstown Corporation is to consist of fifteen persons, the majority parliamentary party — given its 80 per cent majority of seats — could nominate eight persons, the minority party two persons, and the remaining five persons from the NGO and CBO. The Council will elect a Mayor from among themselves. Each member of the Council will serve for two years and will be eligible for re-appointment. 2. In each of the other twelve electoral constituencies in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, it is suggested that there be a Local Government Authority which corresponds to the specific constituency boundaries. The membership of each of these Councils may not be more than thirteen: Seven persons nominated by the majority party in Parliament; two by the minority party; and four by the NGO and CBO appointed in the same manner as for the Kingstown Corporation. The Council of each Local Government Authority will elect its Chairperson from among its members. 3. It is being suggested that neither the Kingstown Corporation nor any of the Local Government Authorities will be empowered to raise taxes beyond their current remit. They will be funded almost entirely by disbursements from the Consolidated Fund by the Central government in agreed amounts in accordance with their responsibilities and work programmes. Strict accounting will be required. However, as legal entities they will be allowed to engage in commercial activities but with the approval of the Central Government. 4. The responsibilities of the Kingstown Corporation and other Local Government Authorities ought to be focused upon those specified areas of public service or work which can better be handled locally and any other responsibility assigned from time to time by the Central Government. 5. The coordination at the Central Government level of local governance ought to be done through the office of the Local Government Administrator under the aegis of the relevant
Ministry. The Kingstown Corporation and other Local Government Authorities will have their own administrative staff, as is currently the case. 6. The Kingstown Corporation and other Local Government Authorities will establish structured links with viable communities and their organizations. It is my view that local government structures fashioned along these line will impact positively on the overall good governance of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. What I have suggested is by no means a blue print cast in concrete. They are ideas towards a restructured system of democratic local government. In any event, they may only be of an interim nature until the new reformed constitution comes into being. Perhaps, the re-introduction of local government along the lines suggested may provide practical experience over the next few years for further refinement under the proposed, reformed constitution. I repeat: These are my ideas for local government reform. The Commission may or may not accept any or all of them. I consider though that I have a responsibility to give you the benefit of my views on the subject. It is now opportune for us in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to get on the road our own process towards the re-introduction of an appropriate democratic form of local government in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Local Government Reform Commission has six months within which to complete its work. A grateful nation awaits your conclusions and recommendations after your public consultations. The Commission consists of members drawn from a wide range of groups and interests. Women are fairly represented and its membership has a wide geographic spread, both from St. Vincent and from Grenadine islands. The Commission is ably led by a former permanent secretary, Mr. Owen Cuffy. His Deputy is an experienced lawyer, Mr. Stephen Huggins. The other members are: 1. Owen Cuffy (Retired Permanent Secretary, North Central Windward) 2. Stephen Huggins (Lawyer, West St. George) 3. Nicolette Balcombe (Woman and young person) 4. Oswald Robinson (Teacher and former President of Teachers’ Union) 5. Hudson De Roche (Businessman, Canouan) 6. Leroy Thomas (Businessman, Pastor, Union Island) 7. Desiree Richards (Publisher, Lawyer, businesswoman) 8. Martin La Borde (Businessman, Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Kingstown) 9. Angela Hinkson (Businesswoman, Bequia) 10. Lloyd Small (Trade Unionist, Telecom Professional) 11. Amy Richards (Retired Headmistress of Primary School) 12. Cuthbert James (Local Head of Peace Corps, North Leeward) 13. Arthur Bobb (WINFA Executive, Marriaqua)
14. Liley Cato (Business Executive, Marriaqua) 15. Noel Clarke (Pastor, Central Leeward) The ULP administration has full confidence in our people to shoulder their responsibilities at the local government level. Our people in town and country are the most formidable resource for good governance. It is our people going about their daily business in life and production who have built this country and sustained our democracy. Through all their difficulties and travails they have put together a good society, and one that is getting better. Now, they are here engaged in another magnificent exercise of reclaiming local government. I feel sure that they ― we ― will succeed despite the efforts of a misguided minority to scuttle that which the people themselves resolved in the last general elections that must be done. This reclamation of local democracy is part of our governance and our life. I listen, and you no doubt listen, to the words of the lyrical poet and prophet Bob Marley in his exhortations in his son, Wake up and Live, the opening track on the Survival album: “Life is one big road with lots of signs So when you riding through the ruts Don’t you complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy Don’t bury your thoughts Put your dreams to reality All together now.” Together now! Hear its resonance for your dreams of better governance. It is now time to get the Local Government Reform Commission on the road! Let our vision turn to reality. Thank you!