On August 30, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar declared local government reform a 'fairytale,' asking how the government would implement the changes it has promised in local governance.
At meetings of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation, controlled by the Opposition UNC, and at the PNM-held San Fernando City Corporation, after the elections in August, the consensus was that - with the election done and effectively decided - it was time to get back to the work of local government.
Making that happen will require significant co-operation between the leadership of city and regional corporations and the central government.
The 2023 local government elections followed the government's decision to extend the tenure of councillors and aldermen, ostensibly to lay the groundwork for the long-overdue reform of local government. But that extension was contested before the Privy Council and ruled invalid, leading directly to the August 14 elections.
What's promised is known. More power and control for local government, full-time employment for councillors and aldermen, with significantly increased funding for community-level projects paid for by revenue from a revamped property-tax regime.
What isn't as well known is how these changes will be implemented and what controls will be in place to ensure both accountability and transparency in execution.
While it might be unreasonable for the Opposition Leader to demand, 'Local government reform, where is it?' On August 30, barely a fortnight after the elections, she is correct to question the process by which the sweeping changes promised in this reform will be implemented.
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Faris Al-Rawi has been typically enthusiastic about the prospect of reform, but now he must explain how this substantial change in a decades-old status quo, which both major parties acknowledge is needed, will happen.
One hundred and 41 citizens were elected to serve in 14 municipal corporations in Trinidad, and while some may be seeking to improve their own political or even personal fortunes, all should be supported by the promised evolution in local governance.
The local government elections were approached, by the parties rather than the population, with the gusto of a general election, but the results proved a letdown on all fronts.
Political appeals did not improve voter turnout and the elections essentially repeated the results of the preceding ones. Podium bluster and bravado failed to deliver any refreshed enthusiasm for or build new confidence in the PNM or the UNC, or to offer great hope to any would-be third force.
With responsibility for governance equally divided between the two parties, successful reform will offer an opportunity for councillors and aldermen to represent their parties in ways that make a discernible difference, with tangible improvement in the neighbourhoods and communities of the electorate.
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