Jamaica needs a new administrative structure

Monday, January 23, 2012

Dear Editor,

After 50 years it is abundantly clear that Jamaica needs a new administrative structure. The rationale for this should be self-evident. The present system, hastily created 50 years ago, lacks the proper foresight to handle the requirements of the present. Jamaica of 2012 is a far cry from that of 1962. So it is time again to go to the drawing board and reorganise the entire political representational system, getting rid of probably costly and overblown elements and creating a leaner, more efficient organisation.

The national government should be divided into three interrelated, but co-equal yet independent parts: an executive; a legislative; and a judiciary.

The executive should be an elected president who should be allowed to select a Cabinet that should be approved by the legislature. The president should be any qualified individual who should be given two fixed five-year terms and not subject to further re-election to that position. A candidate for president need not be a member of any political party but should demonstrate islandwide support. The Cabinet should serve at the pleasure of the president.

For a small island of approximately three million people, there is no need to have a Cabinet larger than six people. The president is the chief executive officer. One minister should be assigned to foreign affairs and tourism. One minister should be assigned to education, culture and sports. One minister should be assigned to finance. One minister should be assigned to agriculture and commerce; and one minister should be assigned to domestic affairs and security. Any larger body would be excessive, uneconomical and probably inefficient.

The legislature ought to be composed of two houses. The upper house should have one elected representative from each parish plus five representatives elected at large. The parish candidate for the upper house with the largest electoral plurality would be declared the proper representative. Five additional individuals from any parish gaining the largest individual votes after the declared winner would be considered at large members. The lower house would be comprised of two elected representatives from each parish. By this formula, the upper house would have 19 representatives and the lower house 28. Members of the legislature would be restricted to a maximum of two electoral terms.

Local government would have four divisional councils. One each would serve the three counties of Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey with a fourth council serving Kingston and St Andrew. Each council would be comprised of the 10 representatives with the highest number of votes in the local council elections. The councils would be re-elected every four years and service could be indeterminate.

The judiciary should be nominated by the president, approved by a simple majority of both houses of the legislature and restricted to a single term of service not to exceed 15 years. As in the case of the executive and the legislature, the duties and responsibilities of members of the judiciary would be clearly articulated.

Such a structure would, at least in principle, be fair, attractive, affordable, and inherently democratic. It would allow Jamaicans to serve in a number of hierarchically arranged administrative units that allow for the demonstration of individual leadership talent. It would undermine the propensity to see public service as the entitled prerogative of any individual or party adherent. Above all, it would permit a more direct form of accountability.

Eventually, the system will work only as well as the capabilities of the individuals elected to the various offices. There is absolutely no reason to believe that it would work any worse than the present structure and there's much more hope in believing that it could work immensely better. Considerable appeal resides in that hope. In any case, a broader discussion based on the suggestions offered here would be a good agenda item in this significant 50th anniversary of the political Independence of the island.

Franklin W Knight

Baltimore, Maryland

USA

Do you feel buying into Facebook now is a good investment for the long-run?
	Yes
	No

View Results
Results published weekly in Sunday Finance

Username:
Password:

Emergency work disrupts water supply in St Ann

Jamaica needs a new administrative structure