Mr Desmond McKenzie must have yawned incessantly as he listened to his Opposition counterpart, Dr Kenneth Russell, carry on about the abandonment of rural and local government and community development in his recent contribution to the 2026 Sectoral Debate in parliament.

Not that we should expect Mr McKenzie, the minister who holds the portfolio, to be bored with a subject he has devoted his political life to. Indeed, everybody knows that much of what Dr Russell said is true. But the Opposition spokesman said nothing that we didn’t all know.

Of course, Dr Russell’s parliamentary intervention was not for nought, because he at least reminded the nation of the paltry state of rural and community development, despite long years of political talk, reforms announced with much fanfare, and largely fruitless protest demonstrations by suffering constituents across both parties.

He charged that rural and community development have been abandoned as national priorities, leaving nearly half of Jamaica’s population facing unequal access to opportunity, infrastructure, and essential services.

He argued that where a Jamaican lives continues to determine his/her access to economic opportunity and quality of life, noting that almost one out of every two Jamaicans live in rural Jamaica, yet the poverty rate in rural communities remains significantly higher than in urban areas.

He reminded us that rural poverty stands at 11.5 per cent, compared to three per cent in the Kingston Metropolitan Area, while rural households continue to lag behind urban communities in access to potable water, Internet connectivity, and computer ownership.

The Opposition Member of Parliament suggested that Jamaicans living in rural communities effectively pay a “quality-of-life tax” through poor roads, unreliable transportation, inadequate access to services, and the additional costs associated with distance.

He also criticised the Government’s failure to develop a comprehensive framework for rural development, noting that multiple agencies operate in rural spaces without a coordinated national strategy.

And he called for the urgent completion of Parish Development Orders across all parishes and the establishment of a national framework to guide investment, infrastructure development, and land-use planning.

Seriously, Dr Russell’s speech could have been written from the dawn of local government. The quality of life in rural Jamaica has been perpetually shameful. He really needs to get more creative in his thinking.

We suggest, for example, that he should ask what has happened to the Jamaica Labour Party proposal many years ago to introduce legislation to establish four regional councils based on the county structure in Jamaica (Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey) and the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation. We in this space supported this proposal on the basis that it would provide these county councils with significant authority for regional infrastructure.

The present structure of local government with its 14 parishes — soon to be 15 — fractures the system and cannot provide economy of scale. Moreover, it does not inspire confidence in the people, as is clear from the abysmally small turnout of voters in local government elections.

We are expecting a bit more from the people making sectoral presentations.