Dear Editor,

Local government in Jamaica has been gutted. Once upon a time, parish councils ran roads, markets, sanitation, and poor relief. They were flawed but powerful, and they gave ordinary Jamaicans a real say in parish development.

That ended in the 1980s when the Edward Seaga Administration stripped councils of their core functions. The Jamaica Fire Brigade was pulled into central hands. The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) was created, taking garbage collection away from local oversight. Disaster preparedness was placed under Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM). Even the management of poor relief is monitored through the board of supervision, itself an arm of the Ministry of Local Government.

Today we call them “municipal corporations”, but they are little more than caretakers. They live off transfers from the Parochial Revenue Fund doled out by the minister, while the big-ticket services — fire, waste, disaster response — remain controlled by Kingston-based bureaucracies. What is the point of constitutional recognition if councils cannot raise serious revenue, hire and direct their own services, or craft parish-wide development strategies without central interference?

The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development itself has become both referee and player. It claims to “oversee” local government, but, in my opinion, it micromanages it, keeping parishes on a leash. If this is autonomy, it is autonomy in name only.

Jamaica deserves better. Development must not be one-size-fits-all, dictated from Kingston. Clarendon’s needs differ from Portland’s, and St James’ from St Thomas’s.

To unlock real growth, we must give municipalities the authority once held by parish councils before the 1980s dismantling. That means returning fire services, waste management, and disaster preparedness to local control — with the power to tax, spend, and legislate through robust by-laws.

I challenge the new political Administration: Stop hoarding power at the centre. Restore real authority to the parishes. Allow them to compete in development, to innovate, and to be held accountable by their citizens — not by Kingston. Until then, local government will remain a shell.

Dudley McLean II

dm15094@gmail.com