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Local Government controversy erupts again

Apr 09, 2009 News

The work of the Joint Task Force on Local Government Reform has been thrown into uncertainty again, with the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) claiming that the government has arbitrarily abandoned the process.
Opposition Leader Robert Corbin told a press conference, yesterday, that the government co-chair, Clinton Collymore, informed the Task Force late Tuesday evening that he (Collymore) had been “instructed” to inform the members that there would no longer be meetings of the Task Force.
PNCR co-chairman, Alan Munroe, said that before the “bombshell” announcement, the Task Force had a meeting of cordiality and concluded its discussions on the Fiscal Transfer Bill.
Corbin said that the PNCR would be meeting with the other Parliamentary political parties to discuss the matter.
Munroe said the PNCR was confident that had the Task Force worked assiduously, it could have completed evaluating all the necessary legislation for Local Government reform before the holding of Local Government elections later this year.
Corbin claimed that this latest action of the government demonstrates its intention to avoid the implementation of the reforms which are necessary for the efficient functioning of the Local Government system.
Munroe claims that in the next two weeks, the Task Force could have wrapped up its work on the Local Government Commission and the Local Authorities Elections Amendment Bill 2009.
However, Munroe suspects that the government’s problem is with the Local Government Commission, which, if reforms are implemented, could cut the powers of the Minister of Local Government.
Corbin said Collymore’s latest action resembles that of last year when the party also accused the government of attempting to arbitrarily abandon the work of the Task Force.
In mid-October last year, Corbin said that a meeting of the Task Force had not been held since Collymore, through a July 22, 2008 letter, suspended meetings until further notice “due to other more pressing engagements of a temporary nature, stemming from the 29th congress of the People’s Progressive Party.”
Collymore then advised that the work of the Commission was being transferred to the government because there was a deadlock in the talks at the level of the Task Force.
After opposition protest, President Bharrat Jagdeo ordered that the work of the Task Force be reconstituted.
The latest move by Collymore has also drawn a statement of condemnation from the other parliamentary political parties — the AFC and GAP-ROAR.
The parties expressed their grave concern about “the continuous dilatory actions” of Mr Collymore.
“It is clear that Collymore lacks the necessary acumen and understanding of how the Task Force mechanism was designed and expected to function, and has, therefore, to be controlled by his party.
“No one Co-Chair, or even for that matter, the President, or Leader of the Opposition, has the authority to unilaterally suspend the meetings of the Task Force, unless this is the consensus view of all,” the AFC and GAP-ROAR stated.
The parties said there is unfinished business awaiting deliberations and conclusions and they expect that the important work of producing a raft of meaningful reforms will be continued so that Local Government elections can be held under a system that will usher in a new dispensation of peace, harmony, and development in our communities.
The AFC and GAP-ROAR charged that the actions of Collymore have proven harmful to Local Government reform process, “and unless he is made to function in a proper manner, he should be removed.”

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