Montaque pushes for parish councils to get more powers

Opposition senator Robert Montague has called for central government to restore power to parish councils.

Making his contribution to a debate in the Senate on Friday, the former minister with responsibility for local government argued that central government had robbed local authorities of their key responsibilities, resulting in their inability to perform some critical functions.

He argues that in order to reform local government, local authorities have to be allowed to fulfill their appointed roles. He says local matters, such as drain cleaning programmes and planning are to be dealt with by local authorities and not centralgovernment.

He also called for councillors to be empowered and to be treated as equal to members of parliament.

Mr Montague says more also has to be allocated to local government if transformation is to take place. He says Jamaica has been spending less than 10 per cent of its budget on local government matters, in comparison to other Commonwealth nations, which spend more.

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