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Historic Investiture Ceremony for Mayors & Deputy Mayors Held..

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As the celebration of Local Government and Community Development Month 2012 continues, Minister Arscott took the opportunity to highlight the significance of the positions of Mayor and Deputy Mayor with the first official Investiture Ceremony held on Friday, November 9, 2012. The ceremony took place at King’s House and was attended by the Governor General Sir Patrick Allen who brought greetings.
In his address Minister Arscott told the Mayors and Deputy Mayors that they were responsible for the image of the Local Authority and they should ensure that it ‘always maintains its relevance and splendour as the seat of Government for the parish’. He added that one way of doing this is to focus on quality service delivery which should be high on their agendas especially as the government strive to reform local government.
The Minister further charged the Council leaders to always be mindful of the fact that the revitalization of local government is dependent on their leadership. “Without your astute and deliberate leadership…it will become increasingly difficult to implement these far-reaching policies and plans”, he said.
The investiture ceremony was hailed as one of the main features of this year’s observation of Local Government and Community Development Month as it provided the opportunity for Mayors and Deputy Mayors to receive one of the highest forms of acknowledgement of their roles in the Local Government structure.
The Celebration of Local Government & Community Development Month 2012 continues with the island’s fourteen (14) youth mayors paying a courtesy call on the Prime Minister on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. The courtesy call will be followed by a luncheon with the Minister of Local Government and the Hon Lisa Hanna Minister of Youth and Culture at the Ministry’s offices at 85 Hagley Park Road, Kingston 10 and a visit to the Bank of Jamaica’s Museum.

Local Government & Community Month Launched

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On Sunday November 4, 2012 the Ministry of Local Government & Community Development officially launched Local Government and Community Month 2012 under the theme: Local Government; on a mission together, building better communities.

The launch formed part of the National Church Service held in collaboration with the Manchester Parish Council and the Social Development Commission (SDC) at the St Augustine Anglican Church in Porus, Manchester.

In delivering his Local Government & Community Month message Minister of Local Government & Community Development the Hon Noel Arscott,emphasised the value of community involvement in local governance. “Critical decision-making and priority setting at the community level is of significant import to the local governance process as the wealth of knowledge and experience throughout our communities is an extremely valuable repository from which we draw inspiration” He said.
The Minister also gave his commitment to continuing the participatory approach to governance saying that the Ministry would be “doubling its efforts to increase the direct engagement of our Civil Society Partners particularly our Parish Development Committees (PDCs) through the strategic linkages developed by the Social Development Commission.”

While acknowledging that our local government system boasts international renown and is admired by our Caribbean and Commonwealth counterparts, the minister said that there was still much to be done. He encouraged members of the local government fraternity to use local government month, November, to reflect on their roles and responsibilities and to come “to the singular conclusion that Local Governance is a major plank for Jamaica’s continued development.”

The Minister also used the opportunity to recognize the efforts of the Parish Councils, National Solid Waste Management Authority, Jamaica Fire Brigade and other government agencies in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and promised continued support to those affected by the hurricane.
The observation of Local Government Month came out of the reform programme and a need to provide, the public with more information and for the Local Authorities (LAs) to have the opportunity to highlight their activities and deepen their relationship with their constituents.
The commemoration of Local Government Month continues with the major event of an investiture ceremony for Mayors and deputy Mayors on Friday, November 9, 2012 at King’s House. Other activities include a health fair, youth councils and an awards function for Local Authorities. Additionally, each local authority has developed its own slate of activities while the SDC is partnering with the Councils to implement parish projects involving youth mayors.

On a mission together, building better communities; celebrating Local Government Month 2012

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Local Government Month 2012 is being celebrated under the theme ‘Local Government: On a mission together, building better communities’.

Plans to commemorate the month are far advanced and will be launched with a National Church Service to be staged jointly with the Manchester Parish Council.

Local Government Month is an initiative that came out of the reform programme. It was envisioned as a communications strategy design to fulfill the need to provide the public with more information on the reform programme and to provide the LAs with an opportunity to highlight their activities and deepen their relationship with the citizens.
ACTIVITIES
DATES
Library Display-Kingston & St Andrew Parish Library
Tom Redcam Drive.
November 3- November 30, 2012
National Church Service & Launch with Manchester PC—St. Augustine Anglican Church, Porus Manchester
Sunday, November 4, 2012
World Town Planning Day Symposium –The Jamaica Conference Centre —Outside Broadcast
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Investiture Ceremony of Mayors &Deputy Mayors King’s House
Thursday November 8, 2012
Health Fair –Local Government Grounds
Friday, November 16, 2012- TBC
Youth Mayors Projects with SDC/LAs (Islandwide)
November 1-30
Youth Mayors –Courtesy Call & Luncheon with HPM & HM –OPM
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 – TBC
Local Government (LAs) Awards –
Laughing Water, St. Ann
 Friday, November 30, 2012

Local Government disburses $18.5m for rodent control programme

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Over the last three months the Ministry has disbursed approximately $18.5m to aid rodent eradication efforts in the island’s fourteen parishes this, in furtherance of the Clean Up Jamaica effort.
The Clean Up Jamaica project was established in April of this year when Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller instituted an interministerial committee to spearhead clean up activities across the island.  The initiative was a response to a KSAC parish disaster and public health committee disclosure that about 50 communities in the corporate area were heavily rat infested.
The table below shows the disbursement to each Local Authority to date; an additional $2 million dollars is to be allocated to Kingston & St Andrew.
Payee
Amount
 
($)
St. Thomas Parish Council
      1,000,000.00
Portland Parish Council
      1,000,000.00
St. Mary Parish Council
      1,000,000.00
Trelawny Parish Council
      1,000,000.00
St. James Parish Council
      1,800,000.00
Hanover Parish Council
      1,000,000.00
Westmoreland Parish Council
      1,200,000.00
St. Elizabeth Parish Council
      1,500,000.00
Manchester Parish Council
      1,200,000.00
Clarendon Parish Council
      1,800,000.00
St. Catherine Parish Council
      1,500,000.00
Portmore Municipal Council
      1,000,000.00
Town Clerk K S A C
      2,000,000.00
St Ann Parish Council
1,500,000.00

Mayors to assist with Control of Dengue

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Representatives from the Ministry of Health met with local government officials on Wednesday October 3, 2012 to discuss a joint approach to addressing public health issues.
The meeting, which including the island’s Mayors, was held against the background of rising concerns about a possible Dengue outbreak.
After a presentation on the disease Dr Michael Coombs of the Ministry of health appealed to the local government leaders to use their offices to spread the message about prevention and control of Dengue and other environmental related illnesses.
Meanwhile Local Government Minister Noel Arscott, asked Mayors to emphasise the matter of personal responsibility when speaking to their constituents about public health. “We need to get people to dispose of their garbage properly and to be more conscientious about their environment” he said.
The local government officials were also asked to work closely with their parish public health officers and to use their positions to ensure that services such as garbage collection are efficiently carried out.

Ministry participates in Vision 2030 Goal setting exercise

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The Ministry participated in a vision 2030 governance sector group seminar at the Terra Nova Hotel on Wednesday October 3, 2012. The objective of the seminar was to develop the next set of medium term goals for the sector.
The seminar, led by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) included a wide cross section of stakeholders who met to assess the Vision 2030 medium term goals for 2009-2012. The group collected and examined data to determine what has been achieved, what needs to be changed and what is to be done going forward.
Three workshops were convened during the session; Local Governance, Public Sector Modernization and Equity. At of the day priority issues and actions were established for further development by the PIOJ.   The PIOJ will be consulting with the Local Government Ministry, which houses the governance thematic group, during the refinement process.
Participants in the workshop included the Social Development Commission, Jamaicans for Justice, the Cabinet Office, the UNDP, the Dispute Resolution Foundation and others.

Minister Arscott commends firefighters in wake of downtown fire report

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Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Noel Arscott, is this afternoon, expressing regret at the loss suffered by several families in the wake of a fire which razed a multi-storey dwelling and adjoining buildings on the corner of Beeston and Regent Streets in downtown Kingston, yesterday.
Minister Arscott who is now in receipt of an interim report from the Commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, and upon perusal of same, is also using the opportunity to commend the firefighting team for their speedy response and professional conduct in managing and bringing the fire under control.
“I applaud these men and women who have been operating under very difficult and trying circumstances, yet, continue to give selflessly to protect the lives and properties of Jamaicans. The coordinated efforts of our firefighters in managing the recent spate of fires over the last couple of days is testimony to this resolve”, Minister Arscott added.
The Report which was culled from the station log chronicled the chain of events including the response time and the operational procedures by the fire fighters on the scene. The Commissioner of the JFB, Laurie Williams, noted that the crew employed sufficient command, control and ongoing risk assessment to deal with situation on location.
The log indicated that the Brigade received its first call at 11:30a.m, and were on the scene at 11:39a.m. It is in light of this initial review of the operations that Minister Arscott is commending the crew in response to the negative comments directed at the firefighters indicating that they were tardy and ill-prepared in responding to the fire.

Property Tax Special Compliance Team in place for October 1, 2012

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Some thirteen (13) compliance officers have been contracted by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development to boost its compliance and property tax collections efforts. The team is to start their compliance efforts with delinquent property owners as of October 1, across the four regions in the fourteen parishes across the island.
The Ministry in partnership with Tax Administration Jamaica held its first sensitization session with the team to outline the Terms of Reference including the modalities for issuing reminders, serving of summonses, incentives and compensation packages.   The main objective of the team is to collect arrears and current balances. .
The special compliance team is a major initiative of the Government of Jamaica as it seeks to improve property tax compliance and collections so as to effectively fund the services for which this revenue source is primarily responsible – solid waste collection and disposal as well as payment for streetlight services.  The targeted sum for the fiscal year 2012/2013 is 2.8 billion.

UNDP Community Safety Projects Continues with Training of Participants

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Some fifty five (55)participants from the island’s Local Authorities (LAs) and portfolio agencies of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development are currently engaged in a 5day workshop on conducting Safety Audits. The workshop, sponsored under the Enhancing Civil Society Participation in Local Governance for Community Safetyinitiative, is designed to provide the participants with knowledge and know-how to effectively undertake needs analysis in their respective parishes.
The workshop is being by the University of Technology, the major capacity building partner in the project. At the end of the training the participants who are from the (6) pilot parishes will be better able to address the creation of safer environments by looking at crime and violence as well as, other intervening environmental issues that create insecurity, e.g. over-bushed verges, poor lighting, electricity theft, squatting etc.
The ability to undertake proper safety audits will enhance the capacity of the LAs and their partners to develop sustainable long-term strategies to prevent and mitigate the effects of crime and violence. This is the main focus of the Community Safety project which is sponsored by the United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP).  Additionally, the project requires a focus on improved partnerships between civil society, local authorities, and central state agencies, which this training exercise supports.
The UNPD’s community safety project began in April 2011, and is being piloted in St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, Westmoreland, Trelawny and St. Mary.

St Elizabeth Parish Council meets New Local Government PS

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Permanent Secretary Robert Rainford along with members of his management team visited the St Elizabeth Parish Council yesterday, Thursday September 13, 2012 as part of his familiarization session with the Local Government portfolio.
The PS informed senior members of the Councils’ administrative team as well as the full membership of the Council, who had earlier sat for their monthly Council meeting, that this was his first stop in a journey designed to fully immerse himself in the character/nature of the Local Authorities in order to be better able to address their needs at the Ministry. “I want to talk with you about your Council, your parish and your challenges so that when matters come to my desk I have a context in which I can deliberate and make decisions”, he said.
The Council was very responsive to and appreciative of the approach taken by the Permanent Secretary and took the opportunity to inform him of matters which were of greatest concern to them as well as to highlight some of their most recent achievements.
The common thread throughout the Councillors’ presentations was a general disquiet with the pace of the local government reform programme, opening the cue for Mr Clive Edwards Project Manager of Local Government Reform Programme, to provide an update.
There were also a few items that PS Rainford was asked to advance on behalf of the Council; these included the establishment of a tax collection facility in Junction and the completion of the Municipal Building.

Secretary/Manager of the St Elizabeth Parish Council, Mr. David Parkes reported that over the last year the Council has achieved a number of goals including the installation of a new Financial Management and Accounting System (FMAS), the installation of the Approval Management and Data Analysis (AMANDA) software along with attendant components, the completion of a new matron’s quarter, the Santa Cruz Fire Station and the fishing market.

The team also met with administrative staff and conducted a tour of the infirmary in Santa Cruz and the Black River Market, which is being renovated and is at 80% completionof the first phase.