THE Government is again being criticised by one local government official in Clarendon over the delay in holding the Local Government Election.

Former Mayor of May Pen, Scean Barnswell is of the view that postponing the Local Government Election for a third time will deprive the people of Jamaica of proper representation. “The Government has no regard for local governance, which plays a pivotal role in the management of the country. It’s an abuse of the democratic process because of the Government numbers in the Parliament which facilitate them using their majority to further extend the delay of the Local Government Election,” Barnswell said.

The last Local Government Election was held in November 2016, and was again due in late 2020. Barnswell, who is also the People’s National Party’s minority leader in the Clarendon Municipal Corporation, maintains that “it can be seen as abuse if the citizens are not aware of what is in the Local Governance Act. Another postponement of the Local Government Election is bad for the governance of the country. It deprives the people of proper representation, especially in divisions without direct representation of a councillor — whether as a result of death or otherwise.”

Currently, the Mineral Heights Division is without a councillor after sitting Jamaica Labour Party Councillor Milton Brown died after ailing for some time. Mayor of May Pen Winston Maragh has been overseeing the activities of that division for almost three years.

According to Barnswell, the Mineral Heights Division is not being represented effectively as the mayor also has to look after his division (Rocky Point), which sometimes interferes with his other responsibilities as president of the Association of Local Government Authority of Jamaica (ALGAJ), chairman of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation, among others.

Barnswell, who is the four-term councillor for the Hayes Division, said the only reason he would agree to Local Government and General Elections being held at the same time is to save the country some money. “Otherwise, I think it should be held separately. I think the law needs to be amended where a set date is given to hold Local Government Elections. Although it states that LGE should be held on the fourth anniversary of the last election, it also states that the election can be extended by a simple majority. That last part of the clause/law needs to be stuck [from] the Local Governance Act because that is what the Government has used to delay the elections for so long.”

Maragh, in his capacity as president of ALGAJ, has opted not to comment on the pending postponement of the local poll and stated instead that he will wait for an announcement from Parliament. “I can’t speak much on it. The Government has until the end of February to make an announcement to tell the country what will happen because it can still be announced in February and the election held in March, so I cannot comment on postponement until I hear the announcement.”

He, however, agreed with the minority leader on a question he asked at last Thursday’s council meeting. “He wanted to know if, since we have reached this far in the term, is it that the Government is waiting until the eight-year time frame to call the election, which will make the new councillors pensionable? If it is called this year it will fall short of the eight years or three terms requirement for some of the new councillors to become eligible for pension, but if the councillors lose their seat will not be eligible for the government benefit.”