IT was business as usual yesterday when the National Assembly, for the last time before its recess, and even with the continued boycott of the opposition side of the House, passed the Local Government Commission Bill 2009.

This is the second of the five Bills to be brought to Parliament so as to facilitate the holding of Local Government Elections under a reformed system sometime soon.

Minister of Local Government, Kellewan Lall, following his presentation of the report from the Special Select Committee, to which the Bill was committed last June following its first presentation to the House, pointed out that it is a move away from the dictatorial kind of arrangement that obtained under the previous legislation.

He noted that in the past, the Prime Minister selected, without consultation with anyone, the Commission as well as the name the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

‘In this Bill we have moved away from that procedure and we are recommending that, in establishing the commission of six members, three would be appointed by the President, two to be appointed after consultations with the leader of the opposition, and the other member to be appointed by the Minister, after consultations with local democratic organs.”

The Minister added that this procedure is far more democratic and is in keeping with the procedures used in making up other constitutional and statutory commissions of this nature.

Another important aspect of the legislation, Minister Lall stated, is the method of removal of members of the commission. He added that here again the Prime Minister had authority to remove anyone under the old system, without reason; but in this legislation, the President now has that authority, but not before consultation with the leader of the opposition.

He informed the House that during the committee meetings, some of the old differences emerged again during the deliberations on the Bill, but they were able to find consensus on some of these.

He noted that the Bill is a very straightforward one which outlines the responsibilities of the Commission, stating that there has been a lot of talk concerning his office assuming the powers that would normally fall under the commission.

He noted that this was due to the absence of a Local Government Commission, which has not been there since 1994 when there was the last election.

He said, however, that these powers will now be shifted to the local government commission, and will include the monitoring and reviewing of the performance of all local government organs, including policies of taxation and environmental protection.

The Commission will also deal with effective local government governance, investigation of any matters at the local government level, reviewing existing legislation, and making recommendations to the Minister to bring to Parliament, looking at ways of enhancing the capacity of local government organs as well as matters relating to staff of the local government authorities, Minister Lall pointed out.

He stated, “This is also a landmark piece of legislation and I think what would follow is the actual establishment of this commission for it to be effective. It will also be something new to Guyana. I think this commission will enhance the effectiveness of local government and will assist greatly in delivering services to our local communities.”

Last week, the first of the five pieces of legislation that seek to set the legal framework for the holding of the Local Government Elections under a reformed system was passed, again without the participation of the opposition side in the debate.

Although the elections will not be held this year, as announced recently by Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the government is still forging ahead to have the requisite laws in place that will afford a very vibrant local government system.

The Local Government Minister, last week in his presentation, had promised that the passage of these laws will not be the end of the reform of the local government system, which has been in place for decades.

He had also pointed out that this is the first attempt to give some meat to the constitutional provisions for there to be a very vibrant local government system, and is also the first attempt to deal with some of the more arcane operations of the system.

Following the announcement that GECOM will not be ready to hold the highly anticipated elections this year, President Bharrat Jagdeo had expressed his disappointment.