The campaign for the parish council elections to be held on November 28 is on in earnest. It is clear that many Jamaicans are not showing any great interest in these elections, and for good reason. They know this is mere business as usual in which the standard political one-upmanship will again be on display. People know that they are only important to those that are directly affected by them — the two major political parties who have never truly understood the importance of local government in the daily lives of Jamaicans.

Jamaicans also know that parish councils have merely operated as conduits to secure and perpetuate the hold of the political parties over the lives of people. They have functioned to bolster the fortunes of the party in power. They have been besieged by corruption, nepotism and political maladroitness. Never have they functioned with the people being at the centre of their philosophical concern. On paper and in theory the parish council concept looks good, but in practice it has largely been a scourge on the body politic of the nation.

No doubt the people have greeted the announcement of the impending elections with a mere yawn. For them, this is yet another irritation, a humbug foisted upon them by a decadent political system hungry for reform. The last attempt at any serious reform of the system occurred when Edward Seaga was prime minister. One well remembers the resistance he faced from the Opposition, and even mutedly from elements within his own party. He was labelled a dictator and so, within the limited time and space his party had to govern, he found other worthy causes to which he committed his mind and energy.

But this did not vitiate the need for local government reform. The maintaining of the status quo has led to further deterioration in the councils.

Since the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) came to power in February of this year, audits of some parish councils largely governed by the People’s National Party (PNP) have revealed serious irregularities and downright, near-criminal behaviour attendant upon corruption. What these cases have revealed is that nothing has changed for the good. Entrenching local government in the constitution, as the last PNP Government did, was mere window dressing to make the then minister look good. All this served to entrench corruption and bad behaviour at the councils in a more binding, legalistic way. Such action will do nothing to stem the bad governance of many of the councils. It will do nothing to cauterise the leaking of public funds to support party projects or to reward those who have been the champions at defending the cause of the party “on the ground”. All that this move accomplished was to delay the need for reform which, at its most radical level, is a total dismantling of the system and its replacement with a leaner and more slick, modern approach to governance.

If this is what the next elections will be about there could be robust interest in the elections. But, given the short time frame, this will never be on the agenda. The JLP still has four years ahead of it, and there is no reason a serious reform of the local government system cannot be engaged

To begin with, we are over-governed. In a country of nearly three million people we do not need so many mayors and councillors tripping over each other and panting for the limited resources that the country can ill afford. This is to foment envy and discrimination in the allocation of the scarce resources. Is it strange that with such a system the councillors of the Government in power will get the larger share of what is available? Does it not go without saying that those councillors will want to dole out resources to the foot soldiers who supported them and who are now bawling at their gates for their reward? Who are we fooling here? And how much longer do the people of Jamaica wish to be duped by this anachronistic system?

Here is a suggestion of what reform may look like. Jamaica has three basic regions: Cornwall (Montego Bay), Middlesex (Mandeville) and Surrey (Kingston and St Andrew). We only need to create three municipalities, located in each region, with a designated number of councillors representing the parishes in those regions being directly elected by the people. The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation model would remain with a little tweaking to have it fit fully in the new concept. The Portmore municipality would remain in its present model.

So there would be four major municipalities throughout the country. The mayor of each municipality would be directly elected by the people. We would not have to depend on a particular party to foist an individual, however gifted, on us. This would also broaden the field as any Jamaican could run for mayoral office. Councillors would also be freely elected and anyone could run for councillor, although you can expect the political parties, with their existing parochial machinery, to influence the system.

With this system there would be no need for a ministry of local government which, in its present definition, is a ministry of political chicanery. Funding and the allocation of resources would be a function of central government. There would be a more orderly transition to power, both at the mayoral and councillor levels. The overweening influence of the political parties would be removed as there would be clear rules and guidelines in law governing the operations of these four municipalities. Their operations would be less costly and it would be easier for transparency and accountability in their operations to occur.

As stated before, this would mean a radical dismantling of the present status quo of the parish councils. This is where the rub is. One believes that the present prime minister is seized with what needs to be done. At least he knows that the present status quo cannot continue. He must see how a radically overhauled parish council system can contribute to his growth initiative for the country. But can he be bold enough to do what has to be done with a one-seat majority in Parliament?

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest and social commentator. Send comments to the Observer orstead6655@aol.com.