StJMC wants law mandating state agencies to attend meetings
Published:Monday | January 16, 2023 | 1:00 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) will be pushing for legislation to mandate representatives of state agencies such as the National Works Agency (NWA) to attend the corporation’s monthly sittings, in light of that agency’s history of being a no-show.
Montego Bay Mayor Leeroy Williams, who chairs the StJMC, made the revelation last Thursday during the corporation’s first monthly meeting for 2023, while commenting on the growing rift between the municipal body and the NWA.
“I have vented the concerns expressed [about the NWA] in a letter to the prime minister, and I am sure we will get a response. I must say that I had discussions with the chief executive officer of the NWA, and I spoke with the minister in charge of the NWA, and the response was not what I expected,” Williams told the councillors at the meeting.
“I do believe that under the local government reform, there needs to be some legislation, for example, to have agencies attending committee meetings; it must say that we do have legislation that says you must attend the meetings. That is why we are having this problem with the NWA, and I think the time is right for us to have this legislation so that we can have these persons attend the meetings,” Williams added.
The issue of the NWA’s non-attendance at the StJMC’s meetings was addressed last month by Janel Ricketts, the community relations officer for the NWA’s western region, after the corporation chastised the agency for not making representatives available to report on ongoing projects.
She had stated that the NWA’s management had issued a directive specific to attendance at such meetings.
“We are always available for information, so it is not as if we have shied away. The decision re meetings is one that was made above me, which the municipal corporation is aware of, but our lines of communication are open, so the municipal corporation should have no issue getting in contact with us,” said Ricketts.
Voice of the people
Meanwhile, Montego Bay Deputy Mayor Richard Vernon argued that there needs to be a renewed understanding of the municipal corporation’s role as a representative of the parish’s residents.
“You are talking about the NWA not being aware of some issues within the municipality, and not attending the meeting; they cannot be sanctioned for it, and if they do not feel that it is part of their policy position to be here, then they are absent. There are some people, who do not understand the value and the worth of local government, and they need rethinking, re-scoping, and readdressing of the matter of local government, as you cannot do things without the people’s voice, and we are the people’s voice locally,” said Vernon.
In addition to the StJMC, the Hanover Municipal Corporation had previously blasted the NWA in September last year for alleged poor performance of its mandate.
At that time, the Hanover Municipal Corporation’s chairman and mayor of Lucea, Sheridan Samuels, called for the NWA to be banished from Hanover and its roles, responsibilities and resources turned over to the municipal corporation.