Kristen Gyles | The knock-off type of consultation

It’s interesting how perception works. The Government insists that it has consulted with the people of Portmore regarding the municipality being given parish status. The few citizens who have voiced opinions are saying the people were not consulted. It’s always better to give the benefit of the doubt so I won’t assume the residents are all lying on their representatives.

The truth is, this conversation has happened a number of times before. It happened with a number of major roadworks projects. It happened with NIDS. It happened with the Sixth Form Pathways programme. It definitely happened when plans were unilaterally made for a new parliament building in Heroes Circle and it has happened yet again with Portmore and its pending parish status.

Every time the criticism is the same. “We were not consulted.” But in every case the Government says they consulted. Where is the disconnect? Maybe the disconnect lies in what we actually refer to as consultation.

What do I mean? A pretty hot-tempered town hall meeting was aired on TVJ on the plans for Portmore and the way forward regarding the proposed parish status. It seems the primary objective was to allow residents to ask questions and get answers. It was a pretty good dissemination forum, besides the tracing and backchatting from the panellists. But after viewing I was left wondering whether it was events of that nature that the representatives kept referring to as ‘consultation’. If that’s the case, then everything makes sense.

NOT CONSULTATION

Consultation is not information dissemination. Having a “Hear ye, hear ye” meeting with citizens to explain what the plans are for Portmore is not consultation. Having a competition for architects to pitch their best designs for the new parliament building is not consultation. Flooding social media with a barrage of infomercials on why NIDS is great is not consultation. Sending the workmen to start digging up the road as a surprise for residents in any given area is not consultation.

The process of consultation involves seeking advice and opinion. So if the Government is engaged in consultation with the citizenry, it is seeking advice and opinion from them. I think leaders should bear this in mind the next time they are ready to say they have held ‘consultations’. Communicating intentions or plans is quite basic for a government. Obviously, the Government will communicate what they have decided to do. Consulting with the citizens of the country is something totally different.

And no, two-way communication is not automatically consultation. The Government can spare a few minutes, if it chooses, to allow for griping and bellyaching and even thank everyone for their input and still go on ahead to do whatever it had planned anyway. Inherent to the concept of consultation is that the initiator should actually want the information being sought.

Unfortunately, it seems it has become hardwired into the minds of too many political representatives that there really is no need for consultation. Will they ever say that explicitly? No, they are politicians – experts in diplomacy. But when they say things like “The people trust their elected representatives to do what is in their best interest” or “The government is elected to govern”, it is a clear indication that they would much rather just be left alone to do what they wish. Hopefully, the sentiment won’t be repeated because I am a citizen here and the “I trust the government to do what is in my best interest” waiver everyone else signed at birth was never presented to me. On the other hand, I am quite capable of evaluating my own interests and my member of parliament simply needs to consult with me to find out what it is that I need representation for.

REFERENDUM

But, back to the Portmore issue. Frankly, all the Government needs to do is to arrange for the polling booths in St Catherine at the next local government elections to have a referendum whether or not Portmore should be given parish status. The end. No more debates, squabbles or political finger-pointing. If the ‘consultation’ that was done didn’t actually allow for a systematic collection of feedback and didn’t allow for a quantitative assessment of the feedback, it was probably the knock-off type of consultation and the citizens have every reason to want their money back. It’s not too late for actual consultation to be done. Or is it?

As per usual, there is always a rush factor. In this case, a big part of the rationale given for the undue haste with which Portmore is being pushed towards parish status is the fact that we are approaching our 60th anniversary of independence. And what better time to liberate the forgotten people of Portmore from the shackles of … Portmore not being a parish? Okay...

In any case, the residents of Portmore who have spoken on the issue seem to have already itemised the things they want to see in order to feel helped. They want their own hospital, cemetery, fire station and all the other infrastructural must-haves associated with true independence. Would something be wrong with going about getting those first? If the citizens are saying the Government is jumping the gun, then the Government is jumping the gun.

And if the citizens haven’t got the chance to say anything, the Government is still jumping the gun.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Email feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com.