…Min Bulkan reminds officers of obligations to serve all residents within their communities

THE importance of decentralised governance and putting more power in the hands of citizens to participate in the development of their communities were stressed by President David Granger and Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan on Thursday when they delivered remarks at the opening ceremony of the second annual National Conference of Local Democratic Organs (NCDLO)

Held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, the two-day engagement has brought together the leadership of all three layers of government with the particular aim of empowering local democratic organs (LDOs) across the country. “Local government organs are required in order to provide quality services,” President Granger stressed.
“We are moving forward, local democracy has been restored. Never again would a government dare not to hold local government elections for 20 years,” the Guyanese leader said in reference to the PPP not holding the elections for the life of its 23 years in government.

At the first NCLDO, President Granger said he had expressed the desire that the conference should continue every year because it is a deliberate intervention to improve the work of local government organs to provide practical basis for them to work together with government.

The conference is being held by the Ministry of Communities (MoC) in collaboration with the Ministry of the Presidency, and is a part of the government’s strategy to strengthen the local government system since it was restored. Since 2015, two local government elections have been held, in 2016, and again in 2018, reinstating a number of local government organs in the form of Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and municipalities; a number of new NDCs and townships have also been created over the past few years.

Each of the NDCs and municipalities become responsible for much of the management and development within their respective areas. Minister Bulkan reminded those officials gathered of their obligations to serve the residents within their respective communities. The NDCs and municipalities are provided with subventions from central government to fund works within their locality. Guyana has 10 Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs), 70 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and 10 municipalities. “Local democracy is integral, not peripheral or secondary, but an integral part of the democratic organisation of our State, as provided for by the Constitution. The time has now come for you to rightfully seize ownership of this renewal process and deliver. As leaders directly elected and not selected by a party, you are the rightful owners of this process,” Minister Bulkan noted.
With the process of local government only recently returning, the Ministry of Communities has spent the past few years focusing on capacity-building, and better equipping the councillors to understand their roles and functions, and to better manage their finances to ensure what needs to get done is done.

“The record will show that the APNU+AFC government spared no effort to resuscitate and breathe new life into this vital system. This is a demonstration of our unwavering commitment and the political will to this process of fixing this system for which no silver bullet exists, to deliver a solution,” Minister Bulkan said, adding that: “This form of governance is closest to people and is the vehicle by which the ideals of participatory democracy can be realised. Strong local governance is essential to fostering the conditions for social cohesion, for deepening our democracy and for ingraining development that is sustainable in communities countrywide.”

This year’s conferences objectives are: to provide an update on the implementation progress since the inaugural NCLDO was held in July 2018; to review and prioritise the recommendations from the inaugural NCLDO; to develop a plan of action to guide the implementation of the recommendations; and to stimulate innovation through improved awareness on the role of local government in achieving local and national development.
“During the next two days, we will continue our discourse aimed at advancing and consolidating the gains made in this vital process of local government rejuvenation,” Minister Bulkan said. “The inaugural NCLDO was a launching pad for a participatory process of conducting a situational analysis of the local government sector and identifying solutions to challenges encountered by local organs in servicing their communities, towns and regions.”

The conference brings together the leadership of all LDOs, including the chairman, vice-chairman and Regional Executive Officers (REO) of the RDCs; the chairman, vice chairman and overseers of the NDCs; and the mayors, deputy mayors and Town Clerks of the municipalities.

In the pursuit of inclusion, invitations were also extended to a representative of the minority parties in each of the LDOs. However, several officials from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) opposition-controlled local Councils choose to boycott and even prevent public officers (overseers) from attending the conference. President Granger said such actions would only hurt the residents, as the conference was an opportunity for all to benefit, regardless of political affiliation. “The cooperation and collaboration that we aim at would be essential in developing a better life for all citizens. There should be no room for partisanship when it comes to the wellbeing of citizens. We have to work across the division of political party,” Granger said.