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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

Minister Robinson to Meet With Hanover Parish Council With View to Resolving Issues Speedily

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Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Local Government, Hon. Shahine Robinson  is stepping into the fray of what has become an ongoing impasse in the Hanover Parish Council, with a view to assist in favourably  addressing the issues that are seeming to negatively impact governance of the Council and its local jurisdiction.

 

Minister Robinson noted that she will be seeking to have dialogue with the relevant parties, both the political and administrative arms of council with a view to better understanding and hopefully successfully resolve the issues, pending a judicial review that is now  before the Supreme Court.

 

Failing this ministerial intervention effort, the Minister is issuing a strong warning to the Hanover Parish Council to speedily find an amicable way to resolving the issues that have kept the council out of session for almost two months.

 

“I am prepared to take strong measures within the legal remit of the law to deal with this impasse if we cannot resolve our differences amicably in the interest of the citizens and the continued development of Hanover,” She said.

 

Minister Robinson who has recently assumed the portfolio in light of the Government’s Cabinet reshuffle last month, indicated that she has been taking note and apprising herself of the issues relating to the seeming continuous impasse among the councillors in the  island’s western local authority. A situation which preceded her tenure.

 

The Hanover Parish Council has been faced with a series of political and legal issues allegedly stemming from what is being viewed as a leadership crisis. It is in this vein that the minister is expressing grave concern for the affairs of the citizens of the parish which she fears will suffer from the lack of effective decisions on the way forward that are to be made during Sittings of Council.

 

“We cannot continue this way, this is not good local governance; we need to address the bigger picture which is the business of the people who elected us to advocate on their behalf in making the right policy decisions; and we cannot do this effectively if we cannot work together,” she reiterated.

 

The Minister also noted that “the very fabric of local government reform and all its principles, particularly that of good governance, are at stake and would have brought our efforts to naught in Hanover, were we to allow this issue to continue unresolved”.

 

Notwithstanding the veiled threat, Minister Robinson is hoping that the Council will justify their presence and tenure by seeking to conduct themselves with decorum and professionalism and move with alacrity to treating the affairs of the people of Hanover like a business poised for growth through meaningful discourse, strategic planning and goal congruence.

 

The judicial review is set for Friday, July 22, 2011.

Robinson Calls for Dynamic Parish-Council Leadership

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Minister of State with Responsibility for Local Government, Shahine Robinson, says there is need for strong and dynamic leadership in the local authorities as the issue of governance has an impact on the finances and administrative processes of councils.
She was addressing members of the Westmoreland Parish Council at the opening session of their financial management retreat at the Riu Hotel, Montego Bay, last Friday.
The retreat was held under the theme ‘Strategies to Achieve Self-financing Goals’.
Robinson congratulated the council on its foresight in convening the retreat despite the challenges of financial resources.
“I note that your theme is one that has major implications for the survival of your council in the face of the global economic downturn from which some economies, such as ours, are only just emerging,” she said.
Robinson said that it is the duty of leaders to inspire confidence. She gave the assurance that the Government was prepared to lead from the front by encouraging the unmistaken view that it cannot be business as usual.
The state minister told members of the council that they had a golden opportunity to improve their revenue base, a task which, even if it appeared impossible, was achievable.
“We must remain unswerving in our determination to meet hard times with an even harder will,” Robinson urged.
Former minister of state with responsibility for local government reform and newly appointed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Robert Montague, congratulated the council for its innovativeness in organising the retreat. He said that if the council is to meet its financial objectives, all regulations and by-laws must be reviewed.
“Let us maximise those that we know and have been using so as to become financially able to meet all monetary obligations and objectives,” he said.

Under the Local Government Reform programme, local authorities have been mandated to provide 30 per cent of their funding from own-source revenues. Consequently, the Westmoreland Parish Council decided to convene the workshop to focus on strategies to realise that goal.

Published by The Jamaica Observer

St Elizabeth Infirmary getting matron’s quarters

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GROUND was broken last Thursday for the construction of a $7.5 million matron’s quarters at the St Elizabeth Infirmary in Santa Cruz.

According to a news release from the State-run Jamaica Information Service (JIS), the facility will cover an area of 920 square feet, will comprise three bedrooms and feature concrete foundations, reinforced block walls, slab roofing, ceramic tiles and louvre windows.

“Construction will take six months, starting Monday, June 27, and will be done by Tropical Metal Construction and Equipment Company,” the JIS said.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Robert Montague, the minister of state in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for local government, said that there are approximately 1,500 residents in infirmaries islandwide, all with different needs.

“They (the infirmaries) were originally designed to house the elderly who have fallen upon hard times. But the reality that we find today is that inside our infirmaries are the elderly, the mentally challenged, the physically challenged, some that have no challenge but have nowhere to go,” the JIS quoted Montague.

He emphasised that the responsibility for caring for people has become a part of the local government reform process, where the onus is placed on respective parish councils to demonstrate their caring side. However, he pointed out that taking care of the poor is not the sole responsibility of the Government, but also the responsibility of the community and the society as a whole.

Montague said, too, that because of the wide cross-section of persons now occupying infirmaries, the Department of Local Government has undertaken, through the Board of Supervision and in partnership with HEART/NTA, the training of persons in the fundamentals of caregiving. To date, 11 persons have benefited from that training.

He said the department is undertaking incremental improvements to all infirmaries.

The Jamaica Observer

MPs given limited powers of JPs

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THE SENATE yesterday passed with four amendments the Attestation of Instruments (Facilities) Act, which gives limited powers of justices of the peace to members of parliament.

The privileges given to the members of parliament are limited, according to Opposition Senator A.J. Nicholson, who said the powers are a conferral on the office of the MPs. The powers are not transferred to the individual if he or she loses the seat in an election.

“Under this provision, you will not see any sitting MPs conducting any petty session court, or things like that. It is an accommodation to attest to the authenticity of certain documents,” Nicholson said.

The privileges are also conferred on a councillor of a parish council, or the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, and a mayor of a municipality who is not a councillor.

-The Gleaner

Portmore Municipality under Probe for Allegations of Impropriety

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In an emergency sitting of the Portmore Municipality with Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Local Government, Robert Montague on Thursday, a number of allegations regarding financial irregularities dominated the meeting
Documentation presented at the meeting by the Minister revealed a series of “missing cheques” from the Council’s  account as well as attempts to encash four cheques totalling more than 4.5million dollars.
Evidence also presented, indicated  that at least one contractor who was hired to carry out rehabilitation works presented a false Taxpayers Registration Number (TRN) and was paid despite this anomaly.
Presented with a list of names of contractors who have been paid and alleged to have carried out drain-cleaning and other works in various divisions within the Municipality, most councillors denied knowledge of the ‘ghost contractor’ or the work being undertaken.
Another issue of concern raised was the case of the missing “20 container shops” once utilized by entrepreneurs in the Gregory Park and environs of Portmore which were seized in a cease-and-desist operation by the Council. It is alleged that the container shops cannot be accounted for as they were deemed to have been ‘sold’ shortly after seizure. The question of a missing fogging machine also dominated the meeting on the purchase, loan and subsequent return of same.
In his response to the allegations, Minister Montague has charged both the council, and its administrative head to immediately conduct a probe into the allegations and call in the fraud squad where corroboration shows that there is evidence of fraudulent conduct on the part of any councillor or employee.
In addition, he has called on councillors to be more vigilant in the monitoring of their allocation and reminded them to “check your ledger accounts” individually to ensure you are aware of how your allocations are being spent.”
He also reminded the Council that the Auditor General’s report of the Municipality over time has not been a complimentary one and therefore more stringent measures of accountability should be reinforced to ensure checks and balances in the system of fiduciary management.
He warned Councillors not to allow the Council to be dissolved, as its actions were indicating that it was not managing the affairs of the municipality in the best interest of the citizens whom it serves.
Minister Montague implored both the political directorate and the administrative staff of Council to work together for the common good of its communities.
Contact: Communications Unit:
754-0992-9; 920-8152
Fax: 754-1011