Copyright thenassauguardian
Since local government was implemented by the first Ingraham administration in the Family Islands in 1996, every administration since has promised local government for New Providence, but none has yet delivered. As the term wanes, it appears the Davis administration won’t either. The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) pledged in its “Blueprint for Change” to “create a local government regime in New Providence”, and stated in its 2021 Speech from the Throne it will “work towards the finalization of a Local Government Act for New Providence”. But there was no mention of local government for New Providence in the October 2023 Speech from the Throne. In May 2022, Clay Sweeting, the minister responsible for local government, told The Nassau Guardian it was not his focus. “My view is that we really need to ensure that the inefficiencies in the Family Islands are addressed,” Sweeting said. It is still not his focus. This week, he told the media when asked about the issue: “My belief is that we should ensure that local government in the Family Islands function properly before we enact it in New Providence, where you have 75 percent of the population. It’s more complicated because most of the bulk of the ministries are here in New Providence. “The idea of local government was to bring government closer to the people and with the new act that was passed, we’ve started to enact those changes.” He continued, “We want to ensure that local government in the Family Islands operates the way it was intended. “I think that we need to make sure that we fix those issues before we enact it on a larger population, which makes it more complicated because currently, local governments are basically the engines that drive the communities and then the ministries work along with local councils there.” We have opined previously in this space that with the vast majority of the Bahamian population crammed on an island 21 by seven miles, the benefits of a system of local government are clear, but with virtually no agitation from the public for change, no change is likely to be forthcoming. Many residents of New Providence complain often about the inefficiencies of central government, but they do not push for decentralized government to help deliver greater efficiencies. Take a drive around the island and the potential benefits of an efficient local government system are clear. Sadly, the work of many civic-minded Bahamians with professional qualifications in varied fields often amounts to wasted efforts when administrations change. The work of the committee that was drafting a National Development Plan (NDP) under the Christie administration was one example. Under the Minnis administration, a local government report was completed by a cross-section of respected citizens who worked on a non-partisan basis, giving of their time to an effort that would do much to enhance our communities and improve the quality of life of residents. They conducted extensive consultation with the citizenry, the opposition, media and individuals with institutional knowledge (that is, Family Island practitioners). The end goal, they stated, was to propose a model of local government that is suitable to a modern Bahamas and that will empower the people of The Bahamas to get more involved in their communities. The committee said, “For the first time in our history, New Providence residents would be able to shape the future development of their communities via duly elected district councils of community leaders whose focus will be to improve the quality of life and participate in solving vexing local community issues.” A year after the committee presented its report to then-minister responsible for local government, Renward Wells, it was still shelved. Wells told The Guardian he was concerned that if implemented as proposed, the plan for local government for New Providence would give local government officials too much power. We said at the time his view was unfortunate, selfish and short-sighted. One wonders if secretly the current minister is also concerned about people other than politicians having too much power. His excuse about Family Island inefficiencies is a cop out. It is a shame that the prime minister will miss the opportunity to have as an important part of his legacy implementing local government on New Providence to bring government closer to the people and lead to the more efficient management of our communities. The studies have already been done. The time for implementation has passed.
