GUYANA has 10 administrative regions, each of which has its line of demarcation, strength in agriculture, natural resources and respective cultures among the people. The regional system was shaped by a vision to advance self-determination of the people by using the resources available within for the people’s benefit.

A lot of thought and planning went into demarcating the regional boundaries, among them being consideration given to the topography of the country as to its high points and how the water from the rain will flow, which river or stream it will drain into, and where and how it will be managed.

The regional system started in 1980. With Government having made a decision, guided by the aforesaid elements, the task of realising the development of the regions rests with the central and regional administrations working together to put systems in place for the region’s development.

Government has since assisted regions in producing a Development Action Plan and also each region has its own flag. Both instances symbolize that the nation can move further in achieving Article 75 and 76 of the Guyana Constitution to bring about the prescribed autonomy in the regions. The pursuit of development of each region by its people is a positive response to Article 13 in the Constitution, which requires inclusionary democracy in the participation of citizens, their respective organisations, and groups.

The initial vision to strengthen the regional system allowed each region to have the authority of raising its own taxes, making its own laws, and having its own police force. It was also envisioned that the taxes earned from, for example, mining and forestry would be shared between the central and regional government of the region that produced the products. This vision of economic self-determination would have placed each region in a position where their budget is developed based on the taxes it raised and not having to depend on central government to determine which project will be funded.

This independence would also prevent central government from using budgetary allocations as a weapon to punish some regions and reward others as this nation has seen.
Economic independence would allow the regions to engage in improvement in public infrastructure such as roads and lifting the aesthetics of the community. This would remove the pressure from central Government to have to attend to nearly every issue that arises in the region, and allowing for more time to be spent on macro issues such as developing national policies such as in healthcare, education, internal and border security, national laws, immigration and so forth.

Strengthening the regional system will also encourage inter-regional trade and competition among regions which would attract business and investments, allowing for growth and development and boosting international trade. The people and resources are the wealth of the regions and where there are lucrative employment and economic opportunities people will gravitate.

In 1990, a bill to develop regional government was tabled in the National Assembly by then PNC Minister of Regional Development Jeffrey Thomas. Among the issues in that bill was the intent to pursue the establishment of a system whereby revenues garnered from the region will be shared on a percentage basis between central and regional Governments. This bill was tabled, but it was never debated.

There is a belief that it never moved further because some Members of Parliament, on both the government and opposition sides, were uncomfortable in allowing the regions such political and economic autonomy. Thirty six years after the regional system was established, efforts by the PNC 10 years into the system to bring a bill to the National Assembly to develop the regional system, and for the 23 years the PPP/C was in office, nothing has been done to strengthen the regional system consistent with what is outlined in the Constitution.

Though it was necessary at the establishment of the regional system to have government provide needed support, with an eye to weaning, that the system still remains at its initial stage shows that the much-needed change has not come to this tier of government.