MONTEGO BAY, July 18 (JIS): Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Honourable Desmond McKenzie, says the staging of the inaugural conference on local governance provides the opportunity to explore strategies aimed at enhancing operations.

He noted that with the local authorities being responsible for 75 per cent of the services provided to the public, it is important to review and examine measures to improve the direction of local governance.

“The Ministry is responsible for roads, minor water supply, garbage collection, street light, cemeteries, public recreation, markets, butcher licence, infirmaries, community development… you name it.

“All these services that the entire country needs require the input of local government, so we must have conferences of this nature to revisit and improve on how we approach matters,” he said while addressing the event being held at the Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort in St. James.

Among the critical areas being addressed at the three-day event, which got under way on July 17, is the enhanced training and sensitisation of staff about their roles and responsibilities. “This should improve the question of accountability to prevent deficiencies in the system,” Minister McKenzie pointed out.

He welcomed the involvement of municipal members from other regions and noted that their participation in the conference signals the value of partnerships in strengthening and improving operations in Jamaica.

For her part, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Marsha Henry Martin, shared that the conference is an important milestone for local governance in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

“At the end of this, we anticipate that the local government practitioners will be rejuvenated and recognise the requirement to be more accountable and responsive to the people,” she said.

“A barber in his shop or hairdresser, the butcher, the developer and even the homeowner who desires to get an approved plan, persons who require welfare of cemetery services must engage the local authorities, and we want everyone to benefit from the highest quality of service from local practitioners,” Mrs. Henry Martin pointed out.

She said that space has been created for interface and dialogue about these and other matters that are in support of the national growth thrust.

MONTEGO BAY, July 17 (JIS): Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Homer Davis, is calling for greater synergy between the municipal corporations and central government.

Speaking at the opening of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development local governance conference in Montego Bay, St. James on July 17, Mayor Davis said he welcomes the conference, as it brings together the decision makers from the municipalities to make plans and positive changes to local government.

“If we work together, surely our efforts will help us in our respective municipal corporations to push the agenda for national development. We can also learn from each other and adopt best practices that work,” the Mayor said.

He encouraged the mayors and administrative leaders of the municipal corporations to take the time to understand their roles and how they can contribute to their parishes to achieve the desired synergy and success.

“As mayors and councillors, we are the ones that the citizens from our divisions hold accountable for issues related to garbage collection, for the repair and installation of street lights and for issues relating to drain cleaning. So, let us use our positions as public officers to be the positive change… Jamaica has been yearning for,” the Mayor said.

He expressed concern about the local authorities not having the power to take corrective or disciplinary action against agencies, and requested Minister, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, to consider his petition.

“The development of the parishes can be negatively impacted by the inaction of agencies. We must be able to hold agencies accountable when they fail the citizens. That is why I am urging all mayors, let us petition that we are given more teeth to manage the affairs of our parishes,” he said.

The conference is being held under the theme ‘Strengthening responsiveness and accountability within the local governance framework’.

KINGSTON, July 17 (JIS): Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, says he will be examining the procedure for the granting of building approvals by the local government authorities in order to speed up the process.

He argued that “territorial behaviour” by the municipal bodies in the issuance of such permits often results in delays, negatively impacting the country’s building approval rating and hindering national growth targets.

“Jamaica is ranked 70, which is second in the region, in the World Bank ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report. However, with respect to construction permits, which deals with building approvals, the country stands at 98 globally out of 190 countries,” the Prime Minister lamented.

“I am absolutely committed to the process of getting government efficient. So, I am taking this opportunity to raise my concerns to the local government institutions that we cannot allow internal territorial behaviour to slow up national [progress],” he said.

The Prime Minister was addressing mayors, councillors and administrators at the opening ceremony of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development’s Local Governance Conference in Montego Bay, St. James, on Tuesday, July 17, 2018.

He urged the officers to make use of the Application Management and Data Automation (AMANDA) system, which is designed to track and manage development applications, in order to speed up the delivery of building permits and approvals.

“I hope that at this conference, when you’re discussing responsiveness and accountability… the AMANDA system is on the top of your list. We have spent a lot of money equipping your offices with the relevant tools to yield the results. I’m hoping that you have been training your staff to use it. We can’t spend all this money to put in place a system, to use a technology-generated support system and then don’t use it,” the Prime Minister pointed out.

The three-day local governance conference- which concludes on Thursday, July 19 – is being held under the theme ‘Strengthening Responsiveness and Accountability within the Local Governance Framework’.

KINGSTON, July 13 (JIS): The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development will be hosting its inaugural Local Governance Conference from July 17 to 19 at the Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort & Spa in St. James.

The three-day meeting is in keeping with the Ministry’s focus on improving the effectiveness of governance at the local level.

Under the theme ‘Strengthening responsiveness and accountability within the local governance framework’, the event will bring together mayors, chief executive officers, chief financial officers and parish disaster coordinators to examine the role of local government in achieving Jamaica’s macroeconomic and financial targets for 2030 and beyond.

The objective is to strengthen the capacity of political and administrative leaders in the execution of their functions and increase awareness about the role of local government in achieving the national growth agenda.

Portfolio Minister, Honourable Desmond McKenzie, said the conference, which will be the first in a series of biennial events, will facilitate discussions and presentations on promoting good governance within “a legislative framework that guides the operations of the local authorities, as well as provide tools that will aid in improving service delivery”.

“I expect great things from the first staging. I believe that through discussion and decisions over the next three days and beyond, this assembly of minds will bring lasting value to local government,” he said.

Areas for discussion are standardisation of the disaster management budget, standard operating procedures, emergency operation centre processes, health and welfare matters, among others.

“My focus on local government has been to bring change to the operations of the Ministry. In this way, the local government system can truly make its full mark on the lives of Jamaicans in areas of disaster management and mitigation,” Minister McKenzie said.

CARTAGENA, Colombia:Honourable Desmond McKenzie says Jamaica is committed to realizing its disaster risk reduction targets.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Honourable Desmond McKenzie, is away from the island on official business.

The Minister is leading the Jamaican delegation, consisting of central Ministry officials and officials from the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), to attend the 6^th Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas being held in Cartagena, Colombia.

The Conference is organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). It is intended among other things, to allow government and non-government organizations, scientific and academic institutions and private sector interests among other stakeholders to share their experiences and chart the way forward as they work together to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction – approved in 2015 – and to which Jamaica is a signatory.

Minister McKenzie, who is the Deputy Chairman of the National Disaster Risk Management Council, says the platform is a critical opportunity for Jamaica to provide the Sendai Framework signatory nations with an update about its disaster risk reduction efforts.

“The Government is taking important steps to improve national resilience, to ensure that we break the cycle of playing catch-up behind disasters, especially seasonal ones. This Conference allows us to share our experiences, the new things we are doing, and also to learn from the other signatory states, the scientific community and to refine our implementation strategies, as we reaffirm our commitment to making the Sendai Framework, and therefore disaster risk reduction, a standard way of life for our people.”

The Minister will return to the island on June 25, 2018.

KINGSTON, Jamaica: The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development is partnering with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to implement early warning systems in four parishes in an effort to improve disaster-resilience in the country.

The project, which will cost US$1 million (approximately J$129m), will commence in 2019 in the parishes of St. Catherine, St. Mary, St. Thomas and Portland.

“We are the third country outside of Cuba and the Dominica Republic that will benefit from this programme with the UNDP where they will help us create a National Climate Information and Early Warning Service for Disaster Risk Reduction,” explained Portfolio Minister, Honourable Desmond McKenzie, during the launch of the 2018 National Hurricane Preparedness Campaign.

“This project will be a shining example of how we can, through hard work, ingenuity and partnership, create lasting resilience to disasters.”

Early warning systems are used to relay timely and relevant information to people especially in vulnerable areas prior to a disaster.

The UNDP is the United Nations’ lead development agency and works to connect countries to a network of global knowledge, experience and technical and financial resources. According to its website, the UNDP empowers lives and supports nations to become resilient to crises and disasters.

Meanwhile, Minister McKenzie says that work is being undertaken to reduce the exposure to flooding and other consequences of hurricanes in the parishes Clarendon and St. Ann.

The farming community of Douglas Castle in St. Ann is a vulnerable area where residents are often marooned whenever storm conditions occur.

“We have decided to construct a box culvert which will effectively channel away storm water as well as raising a section of the Douglas castle main road by approximately 15 metres. I’m told by the technical people that once we do this, it will help to preserve crops and livestock and keep the community physically connected to the rest of the country,” the Minister stated.

“A strategic approach to the threat pf hurricanes also involves ensuring maximum speed and efficiency in the response to this form of disaster.

To this end, $10 million will be spent to construct two storage facilities and retrofit four emergency shelters in Northern Clarendon. The storage facilities will be sited at the Frankfield Police Station and the Kellits Primary School, respectively.

The Minister added that “these will ensure that disaster relief supplies are readily available at all time to over 50,000 people living in more than 15 communities in Northern Clarendon”.

Four emergency shelters will also be retrofitted to increase capacity and provide greater comfort for its users. They are Portland Cottage Primary; Alley/Race Course; Scotts Pass and Staceyville Primary Schools.

Twenty-five aspiring entrepreneurs have been presented with J$3.75 million in grants as part of their participation in the Clarendon Youth In Business (CYIB) project.

The participants, who were exposed to practicums and field trips, each received $150, 000 towards the development of their individual businesses during a presentation ceremony in May Pen, Clarendon on May 31, 2018.

Guest Speaker and Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Honourable Desmond McKenzie, lauded the Clarendon Municipal Corporation for the programme, which falls under its Local Economic Development initiative.

“The government is creating the environment within the community that these young men and women can find an avenue for expression and these types of expression come with a cost,” the Minister stated.

“It comes with a cost because when they invest in the way that many have invested; they are expecting to get returns and those returns cannot be guaranteed unless there is something that is called partnership.”

He described the CYIB project as a practical demonstration of local government at work through community development.  Minister McKenzie also committed J$1.25 million to increase the grants to $150, 000 each.

The participants represent the second cohort of the programme that began in 2016. They are involved in the business of crop agriculture, animal rearing, egg farming, agro-processing including nutraceuticals and sauces; barbering, shopkeeping, photography and garment construction as well as food and beverage across the parish of Clarendon.

The municipal corporation also received assistance from public and private sector partners inclusive of the Heart Trust; the Jamaica Business Development Corporation; the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ); the Youth Information Centre and the National Commercial Bank.

The PIOJ’s Community Renewal Programme (PIOJ-CRP) provided coordination and funding support for the CYIB project. Its participation is aligned to its push to build the capacity of existing small business enterprises in Rocky Point, Hayes, May Pen, Effortville and Bucknor, which are target communities of the PIOJ Community Renewal Programme.

“When you find these (CYIB) young men and women, who could have gone into many other directions, but didn’t because they want to be self-reliant. They want to create their own niche on the society and to create a better Jamaica for their families and themselves,” the Minister added.  “I believe that the young people of Clarendon will make even a greater impression on the reduction of the unemployment rate amongst young people.”

The country’s unemployment rate declined to 9.6 percent at the end of January 2018, down from 10.4 percent for the period of October to December 2017. The figures for youth unemployment also declined to 23.8 percent at the end of January compared to 31.7% for the corresponding period in 2017.
Minister McKenzie challenged the CYIB participants to strive for success and put their training in entrepreneurship and financial management in practice.

He publicly acknowledged former Mayor of May Pen, Councillor Scean Barnswell, for his support to the CYIB project.

“His leadership when he was Mayor and also head of ALGAJ (Association of Local Authorities of Jamaica) contributed significantly to what we are seeing and this is where continuity is important in the political process in the country.”

The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development has embarked on a drive to modernize the operational capacity and infrastructure of the Poor Relief Department across the country’s 13 municipal corporations.

Portfolio Minister, Honourable Desmond McKenzie, says the rebranding will improve brand identity and result in a greater appreciation for the poor relief services.

“We will also be rebranding our Infirmaries and modernizing them, to ensure high-quality service to the less fortunate, as part of a major overhaul of the current Poor Relief system. That whole process will be facilitated by the Human Services Bill 2018, which is now before Parliament,” he explains.

“Through the Human Services Bill, the infirmaries will be renamed as Adult Residential Care Facilities.”

The Poor Relief Department is the social welfare arm of the local Authorities that provides assistance to destitute persons. An infirmary is operated by each respective local authority except in the case of the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation that runs the Vineyard Town Golden Age Home.

The infirmaries and golden age home cater to individuals who are destitute and in need of institutional care. There is also outdoor poor relief services specifically for persons living in their homes but are in need of financial support and other services such as medical comfort, assistance for school children and burial assistance.

“The professional capacity of poor relief officers is being improved through the Human Services Training Programme where 15 officers are now enrolled, as the second cohort of the programme and additional officers will also be brought into the system,” states Minister McKenzie.  “More patient care assistants are being employed to improve the quality of care.”

The modernization push will also see the Board of Supervision abolished as an agency, which functioned as the decision-making arm for poor relief services. It will be replaced with a Human Services Division that will operate within the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development.

“The Human Services Division will be responsible for strengthening the administration of social welfare and leading the implementation of this modern approach to poor relief across Jamaica,” adds Minister McKenzie.

The Poor Relief Departments are being retooled, and in some instances undergo renovations to its physical spaces of operation. The retooling exercise is being financed by a draw-down of $24 million from the Equalization Fund.

“This modern approach includes equipping the Poor Relief Departments with computers, printers and tablets, as we move to thoroughly digitize operational efficiency.”

To date, Minister McKenzie has handed over tablets to the Poor Relief Officers and Councillors at seven municipal corporations namely Clarendon, St. Mary, Westmoreland, St. James, Portland, St. Ann and Hanover.