Regionalism and national development

Jan 28, 2018 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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(Remarks by H.E. David Granger at the Second Meeting of the National Regional Development Consultative Committee on January 19, 2018)
The state of Guyana, founded as three Dutch colonies – Essequibo-Demerara and Berbice – and ceded to Britain by the Treaty of London in 1814, was united by Royal Commission as a single colony in 1831. The burden of history, however, weighs heavily on the system of public administration.
The colony of British Guiana was divided into three counties – Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice – which adopted the geographical and historical contours of the original Dutch colonies. They were not functional or developmental from an economic or administrative point of view.
These counties, by the middle of the last century, were sub-divided into nine districts – East Berbice, West Berbice, East Demerara, West Demerara, Essequibo Islands and Essequibo; North-West; Mazaruni-Potaro and Rupununi – which evolved, largely, into the ten administrative ‘regions’ which exist today.
Districts, in the colonial era, were governed by ‘District Commissioners’ whose principal duties were to coordinate the activities of the various Government departments. This centralised policy has had a lasting impact on the system of public administration.
Guyana, today, administers a regional system, in accordance with the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. This makes provisions for the division of the country into ten regions, inter alia.
Local democratic organs – including municipalities, neighbourhood democratic councils, community councils and village councils – form part of the state’s democratic composition. The Constitution requires: “…local democratic organs to ensure…the efficient management and development of their areas and to provide leadership by example. It requires, further: “…local democratic organs shall organize popular political cooperation in respect to political, cooperation in respect of the political, economic cultural and social life of the people.
The Constitution demands, therefore, that local democratic organs be responsible for the management and development of their areas and for organised forms of popular cooperation.
The historical emphasis on strong central government control and the absence, for over two decades, of local democracy, however, retarded the development of a vibrant system of local government.
The re-introduction of local government elections on 2016.03.18 renewed local democracy and opened an opportunity to empower local democratic organs and wean them off excessive dependency on central government.
The new regional system must not embalm the obsolete colonial approach by perpetuating the arrogant attitudes of the past. This opportunity must be used to abandon the colonial approach and to adopt a consultative approach to public administration.
Guyana, geographically, is a state of relatively large regions, some of which are bigger than Caribbean countries. Demographically and economically, also, regions are not uniform with 90 per cent of the country’s population and most of the commercial agricultural and manufacturing enterprises located on the coastland which accounts for 7.5 per cent of its territory.
The Government, for these reasons, is continuously strengthening its system of public administration by making each region administratively resourceful, geographically and infrastructurally integrated, economically robust and demographically populous.
The Government aims, eventually, at ensuring that each region possesses its own capital town to deliver administrative services and to promote economic development. Each region, eventually, should have its own aerodromes, banks, chambers of commerce, courts, factories, hospitals, museums and galleries, newspapers, radio and television stations, passport and registrar’s offices, police stations, secondary schools, sporting stadiums, sub-treasuries, and other amenities and public services.
Each region should be capable of creating employment opportunities for its young people – by attracting investors, encouraging commerce with the Caribbean and other parts of the world and developing thriving business districts, industrial parks, busy highways and bustling stellings.
A rich country cannot be built on poor regions. Rich regions require cooperation among local government organs to ensure that they are working towards common goals.
The establishment of this Regional Development Consultative Committee (RDCC), therefore, is a means of promoting cooperation among municipalities, neighbourhood democratic councils and regional democratic councils to achieve these common goals.
RDCCs must bring local government organs together with other stakeholders, to discuss and determine the development their regions’ development objectives. The National Regional Development Consultative Council (NRDCC), on the other hand, can foster dialogue between the RDCCs and other national stakeholders.
Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs), within the limits of the law, must work with municipalities, neighbourhood democratic councils, village councils and other stakeholders to promote the development of their respective regions. RDCs must superintend the work of Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and Village Councils, giving them support and assistance where needed.
The National Regional Development Consultative Committee is an important step towards strengthening our system of modern and appropriate public administration.

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