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Minister Shahine Robinson Pledges $100,000.00 to each Youth Mayor

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Minster Shahine Robinson Pledges $100,000.00 to each Youth Mayor
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Housing, Environment, Water and Local Government with responsibility for Local Government Honourable Shahine Robinson, today pledged $100,000.00 to each Council for a project to be identified by the Youth Mayor. The pledge was made during a luncheon which the Minister hosted in honour of the island’s fourteen (14) Youth Mayors.
The Youth Mayors’ who were accompanied by the Mayors or their designate from the respective parishes were given the opportunity to speak with the Minister about their views on local governance and issues affecting their parishes. A number of the bright young students addressed the significance of this year’s local government month theme, Local Government, Your Partner in Community Development,emphasising the need for citizens and youths in particular to play their part in improving their communities.
In her response Minister Robinson urged the Youth Mayors to be active in their communities, encouraging other citizens to participate in the decision making process.  She told them that as the affected persons they are familiar with the issues and should seek to dialogue with their councillors thereby making the job of the political representatives – community development- that much easier.
Minister Robinson also said that she was impressed with the level of presentations made and encouraged by the number of male participants, particularly in light of the fact that boys are seen lagging behind academically.
The youth council concept began in 1995 as a means of sensitizing youths about the operations of local government through the Local Authorities; since 2001 the Youth Mayors have been invited to a special luncheon with the sitting Minister of Local Government.

Minister Robinson’s Message for Local Government Month 2011

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“Local Government: Your Partner in Community Development.”

 

Members of the Local Government fraternity and my fellow Jamaicans:
Local Government Month is one of the most important highlights on the annual Local Government calendar. The aim of the Local Government Month celebration, generally, is to increase the awareness of Jamaican citizens about the importance of local government and good local governance in their day-to-day lives, usually under a specified theme.
This general goal is achieved through a series of celebratory activities to mark the month of November as Local Government Month. This year’s theme is Local Government: Your Partner in Community Development. This theme highlights two essential ideas underpinning the Local Government Reform Process, namely, partnership and community development.
The focus on these two key elements in the Reform process at this time in the nation’s history is significant. It coincides with the blossoming of a new and dynamic dispensation of renewed hope and promise, with the recent inauguration of The Honourable Andrew Holness as Jamaica’s ninth Prime Minister, and myself presiding over the Local Government Month celebration as Minister with responsibility for Local Government in a new Ministry under the Senior ministerial leadership of the Hon. Dr. Horace Chang. This leadership renewal at the national and local government levels should provide even greater impetus in advancing the Local Government Reform Agenda.
Local government reform involves the reorganization of the structure and administrative functions of the local authorities, to give them greater autonomy and control, so as to enable them to serve their communities more effectively and with greater efficiency.

Our theme for this year’s celebration strongly underscores the need to establish a true partnership relationship between the newly enhanced Local Government Authorities, and the different elements of civil society in order to realize the ideal of sustainable community development. The Reform process will facilitate the empowerment of citizens to participate in and influence the process of local governance. Greater self-management and accountability for determining their own destinies and solving their own problems will be the result of this.

Increasingly, our citizens are demanding more and better quality service underscored by transparency and accountability, and a forum for enhancing their participation in local governance. They are the reason for our existence and we are heeding the call.

Our responsiveness to this urgent call is evidenced by the significant progress the Department of Local Government has made in advancing the Reform Legislative Agenda as well other crucial Reform Issues.
Broad consensus has been reached on the proposal that local government should be entrenched in the Jamaican Constitution. The timetable for including this Reform Agenda item in the Constitution Amendments Programme is very advanced. Importantly too, the three Strategic Laws critical to the Legal Reform Agenda, in the areas of Finance, Governance and Human Resources have moved from Cabinet Submission status to drafting status.
The National Building Act has been tabled in Parliament and a Joint Select committee has been established chaired by the Hon. Dr. Chang to review the bill and report back to Parliament.
Similar progress have been made on other proposed Reform Agenda items including the Municipal Court Proposal, the Financial Management & Accounting System, the Direct Financing Programme, the Organizational Review Scheme, and the role of Local Authorities in the Public Sector Transformation Unit.
I wish to take this opportunity to encourage all citizens to partner with their respective Parish Councils in achieving sustainable community development. I encourage you to embrace the opportunity to sit on various Council Committees of your respective Parish Development Committees.
Continued structured development of community stakeholders has continued, led by us in Local Government. The chairpersons of the PDCs have been mandated to forge a stronger relationship with the Local Authorities, play a greater role in the sustainable development planning of their communities as well as have a deeper involvement in projects that involve public/private partnership. All citizens can play a part, and should.
Let me congratulate each Local Authority for their commitment to Local government reform and for their work in developing sustainable communities. You have overcome many challenges, but have remained undaunted. Our challenge now is to sustain the developments we have realized and to accelerate the process of local government reform. Local Government Month is a great opportunity to highlight your roles and functions and to be innovative in educating and involving your communities. Notwithstanding the challenges we currently face, we are excited about the prospects for realizing our Local Government Reform vision of achieving sustainable development in our communities and thereby the nation.
Therefore, let us move ahead with renewed commitment, as individuals, as a team, as communities and as a nation and effectively embrace our roles as local government leaders, practitioners, and civil society partners. Let us continue the thrust towards achieving good local governance by embracing principles of transparency, accountability, responsiveness, citizen’s participation and improved service delivery for a sustained democratic local government system in Jamaica for all Jamaicans.
Thank You and God bless us all as we celebrate another local government month.
……………………………..
Hon. Shahine Robinson MP
Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Housing, Environment, Water & Local Government

Department of Local Government Signs MOU with Alternate Energy Company from the USA

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The Department of Local Government today, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with US based energy management company, Green RG Management LLC for the testing of alternate energy technology.
Under the agreement Green RG Management, who submitted and unsolicited proposal to the Government of Jamaica, will execute a Pilot Programme to demonstrate its patented energy management system and products in selected Government agencies such as infirmaries and schools.
Speaking at the signing ceremony Minister with responsibility for Local Government, in the Office of the Prime Minister the Honourable Shahine Robinson lauded the New Jersey based company for their boldness in implementing this pilot at no cost to the Government of Jamaica. She endorsed the initiative as it in keeping with earlier efforts of the Department of Local Government to explore energy efficient solutions.
“We are one of the few government entities that have made strides in promoting, exploring and adapting renewable energy solutions” she said, pointing to the Department’s experiment with bio-diesel in which waste cooking oil has been converted and is being utilized in Solid Waste Management trucks.
Green RG Management asserts that the technology will save the government 20% on energy cost.

Hanover Parish Council Receives 6.8mil in Financial Support from the Department of Local Government

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During a visit to the Hanover Parish Council on Thursday, October 6, 2011, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for the CDF & Local Government, Honourable Shahine Robinson, pledged $6.8 mil towards rehabilitation work on the Council building and for the installation of a new financial management system.
The Minister, who was carrying out her fourth in a series of Day-in-Council visits designed to facilitate face-to-face interaction with Local Authorities, made the pledge in a special sitting of the Council which took place at the start of the day’s activities.   She told the council that having heard their concerns she was sympathetic to their needs and was aware that the challenges being faced have been made even more difficult by the financial crisis of recent years.
“Notwithstanding, I believe this is where council and us at the Department of Local Government have to strengthen the cooperation between us in being not only pragmatic in our thinking but employ strategic management in the way we handle the affairs of the nation at the sub-national and central levels”, she said.
The installation of the financial management accounting system, to which $1.5 mil of the $6.8mil was pledged, is to being carried out on a phase basis in all Local Authorities and will see them moving from manual to automated accounting enhancing the management and control of resources within Councils. It is one of the strategies being employed by the Department of Local Government to boost the reform programme.
While reassuring the Hanover Parish Council of her support and commitment to the local government reform agenda, Minister Robinson also appealed for cooperation from councillors emphasizing the need for teamwork. She told them that they must begin to work as a team, resolving differences amicably and productively in working for the good of Council and community. She admonished the council saying, “If you, the parish government cannot find a way to work together you cannot provide good governance”.
The Local Government Minister also said local government officials and entities must begin to see their relationship as a partnership facilitating each other, leading by example, managing council as a business and lifting the face of council from being judged as “parochial” in behavior in and outside of council and that teamwork, visionary leadership, and responsiveness to citizens were  essential ingredients in achieving this change.
She said “We owe it to them (citizens) and collectively we can continue to make local government reform that aspect of government that continues to be relevant to the people, the communities and Jamaica land we love”.

Minister Robinson next visits are to the St Thomas Parish Council on Monday October 10, 2011 and to the St Elizabeth and Westmoreland Parish Councils the following week.

Minister Robinson Pledges Financial Support to St Ann’s Bay Infirmary

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Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Local Government and the CDF Honourable Shahine Robinson, has pledged $1M towards the construction of a perimeter fence at the St Ann’s Bay Infirmary.
The Minister, who is embarking on a series of ‘Day-In-Council’ visits over the next two (2) months, made the pledge during the inaugural visit to the St Ann Parish Council yesterday.
The day began with a special council meeting in which the Minister addressed council on various issues.   In her address Minister Robinson said she would be using these visits to strengthen the focus on real reform issues and principles, and on addressing challenges in a bi-partisan and results-based manner. She asserted that she seeks to employ a consultative approach to managing the local government portfolio and that the ‘Day-in-Council’ series was an ideal method through which to do this.
“I cannot do it alone, hence I embrace this kind of communications intervention” she said.
The Minister also announced that the theme to be adopted for this year’s Local Government month celebrations is ‘Local Government, Your Partner in Community Development’ and she implored the council to apply this principle in serving the needs of its constituents. She said that consultation and communications are essential to achieving transparency, accountability, capacity building, citizen’s participation, responsiveness and quality service delivery, which are basic tenets of the reform process.
She also told council that it was time to move the reform process to a higher level of application through strategic management and thinking at all levels, from councillors to the administrative arm, and that a greater understanding of integrated governance, forging partnerships, and strengthening community relations were effective means of meeting the challenges of quality public service delivery.
Following the council meeting, the Minister took the opportunity to get a firsthand feel of the issues affecting the council by visiting various portfolio entities including the Infirmary.
The Day-In-Council series continues with a visit to the St Catherine Parish Council on Monday October 3, Trelawny on Wednesday October 5, and Hanover on Thursday, October 6, 2011.

Prime Minister Launches project LAND

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Prime Minister Bruce Golding today Sept. 15 launched the Land Access for National Development (LAND) project designed to give owners of untitled lands an opportunity to regularize their properties noting that untitled lands have deprived Jamaica’s potential for development.
Prime Minister Golding launched the historic project at the Juan de Bolas Primary School in St. Catherine. He said Jamaica has on register, some eight hundred thousand (800, 000) parcels of lands, however, less than half have registered titles.
“So much more could have been done if we had been able to transform, to convert these assets that could be used both for the personal benefits of the families involved and for the development of the country as a whole.”
He urged Jamaicans to utilize the programme because if it is well implemented and attracts a significant level of interest, it can be submitted for multi-lateral funding which will make the project available to more Jamaicans.
“This project is another effort to correct what is a travesty of history. The issue of land ownership in Jamaica is something that punctuates our history as a people, over which fights have been waged, laws have been framed and yet we still have not gotten it right” Mr Golding said.
He said a measure needs to be found to address the issue of owning a piece of land whether by history or culture and moving it to a tradable asset and capital.
The Prime Minister said the LAND project brings a new ray of hope for families who do not have to be imprisoned in their own poverty as they can be made rich without receiving Government resources. He said if the wealth that they possess in the form of lands is unleashed then it can transform their lives.
The LAND project is a partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Ministry of Water and Housing and Environment, the Parish Councils and the People’s Cooperative Bank. The pilot phase of the project will be commenced in five parishes, St. Catherine, St. Mary, St. Elizabeth, Clarendon and Manchester.
The project was launched in the community of Juan de Bolas which is the name of the first Jamaican to receive a land grant but no documents. Today, Prime Minister Golding signed the first certificate of compliance under the LAND project for Juan de Bolas which was given to his relatives.

-Communications Unit, OPM

Statement on passing of Former Mayor Ralph Anglin – A Committed Servant of the People

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Statement by the Hon. Shahine Robinson
On behalf of the Local Government fraternity I express deep sadness on the passing of Mr Ralph Anglin former councillor and chairman of the Westmoreland Parish Council, who died on the weekend.
The fraternity has lost a dedicated and committed servant who exemplified service to community and country as Councillor, Deputy Mayor (1977-1981) and Mayor of Savanna-la-mar and Chairman of the Westmoreland Parish Council from 1986 -2003.   Under his leadership the Council saw the establishment of the Savanna-la-mar & Negril Transportation Centres and the Civic Centre, as well as, the implementation of Local Government Reform initiatives in the parish.
We will not soon forget his commitment to improving local governance which he demonstrated, in his role as president of the Association of Local Government Authorities (ALGAJ) from 2000 – 2003, as an active member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) on Local Government Reform, and as chairman of both the Parish Council Services Commission and the Municipal Services Commission from 2003 -2007.
The fraternity is happy to have honoured Mr Anglin at the 2010/2011 Local Government Awards with the Minister’s Award for his invaluable contribution to the advancement of local government. We continue to celebrate his life and work as well as his legacy of leadership and service.
We use this opportunity to extend condolences to his family, friends, well-wishers, fellow councillors, and staff of the Westmoreland Parish Council during this time of bereavement.
May his soul rest in peace and we all be comforted in the knowledge that he is gone but not forgotten.

Representative of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities makes Courtesy call on Local Government Minister

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Minister Shahine Robinson, Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government met with Ed Fordham councillor at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)  at the offices of the Department of Local Government on, Wednesday August 10, 2011.  Also present was Mayor Milton Brown, president of the Association of Local Government Authorities in Jamaica (ALGAJ)
The COSLA representative is here in Jamaica to discuss capacity building within ALGAJ.
Mr. Fordham discussed innovative ways in which the Local Government Association can impact the development within the local jurisdiction and improve service delivery through partnerships with business as well as other government entities.
The Department of Local Government and ALGAJ welcomes COSLA’s input and sees it as a perfect fit with the local government reform process. A major objective of the Reform process is the empowerment of citizens in their communities, and the mobilization of all elements of civil society, including the private sector, NGOs, CBOs voluntary organizations and local sectoral interest groups, to become partners in the process of local governance, which is essential to achieving a strong and vibrant system of Local Government and local development.
COSLA hopes to assist ALGAJ in staging a conference later this year, which would put on display current and potential partnerships as well as successful innovative projects that demonstrate the change in the complexion of the Local Authorities that is envision by the reformed process.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities formed in 1975 represents Scottish local government, lobbying on behalf of its members – Scotland’s 32 councils which are all memebrs of COSLA. Together they represent over 5 million people, spend around £12 billion a year on local services, and employ over 260,000 people.

Minister Robinson Continues Familiarization Sessions For New Portfolio Responsibility

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In continuing to apprise herself of the state of affairs of the Local Government portfolio, to which she was recently assigned, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for the CDF and Local Government, Hon Shahine Robinson, met with Mayors and Secdretary/Managers on Wednesday, August 3, 2011.

The meeting took place at the offices of the Department of Local Government 85 Hagley Park Road, Kingston 10  and was designated as a familiarization session, in which the heads of the Local Authorities gave updates on thier indivdual entities, flagging priority programmes and identifying challenges and solutions at both the national and sub-national levels.

Following that session the gathering was addressed by Minister Arthur Williams and his team from the Public Sector Transformation Unit regarding the transformation strategies and the way forward for Local Authorities.

Hanover Developers to Face Court

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Nine developers in Hanover will on Tuesday face the Resident Magistrate’s Court for alleged breaching the Parish Council’s building and planning regulation.
The developers are the first to face the courts, resulting from a series of efforts by Hanover Parish Council to reduce the suspected high incidence of building breaches. A compliance team working in conjunction with the Parish Council’s municipal officers have been maintaining marked vigilance in enforcement, since the turn of the year.
Secretary/manager Alfred Graham has stated that there is some compliance, from the breaches detected, however, those facing the courts are still in breach.
“Building and planning permission is not just designed to obtain revenue,” he stated. “It is also intended to see that construction satisfies the building code, thereby guaranteeing a modicum of safety to life and property.”
The current wave of legal procedure against developers who have breached the building process started over the last six months, following a significant drop in revenue, even while there was a noticeable increase in construction activity. Improved compliance should show in revenue intake, Mr. Graham observed.
After a serious overhaul in enforcement, the Parish Council is also determined to reduce damage which is caused to some areas of infrastructure, due to faulty construction activity.
– Desmond Dorman, Hanover PC
  956-2236 956-2305