Empower municipal bodies to sanction non-performing agencies - MoBay mayor

WESTERN BUREAU:

Mayor of Montego Bay Homer Davis has called for Jamaica's mayors and municipal corporations to be given greater power to take action against state agencies that fail to perform their duties at the parish level.

Davis made the call while addressing Tuesday's opening ceremony of the Local Government Ministry's inaugural three-day Local Governance Conference at the Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort in St James.

"As mayors and councillors, we are the ones that citizens from our respective divisions hold accountable for issues relating to garbage collection, the repair and installation of street lights, drain cleaning, et cetera," said Davis. "However, the irony of this situation is that as local authorities, we are not vested with the power to take on these agencies when they are failing our citizens."

"I therefore call on us as mayors to demand that we be given more teeth to manage the affairs of our parishes and our municipalities," he added.

Davis also called for greater collaboration between the municipal corporations and central government.

"My call for greater synergies between the local authorities and central government is based on the fact that we are the face of government in Jamaica. We are here to learn from each other, to adopt best practices and implement them as working solutions at our respective municipalities," said Davis.

The conference was held to hold discussions on a number of topics aimed at promoting good governance in conjunction with the legislative framework that guides the local government authorities, as well as to increase awareness of the local political and administrative leaders in the execution of their duties.