All it really takes is smart governance

Rosalea Hamilton, GUEST COLUMNIST

On October 1, The Gleaner reported that the pleas of residents of Sherwood Content in Trelawny for their community to be developed into a tourist attraction built around the world-class performance of a son of the soil, Usain Bolt, are ignored.

Interestingly, Falmouth Mayor Collen Gager agrees, and said, "... It can be one of the biggest drawing cards in the parish, but it would have to be a community-driven exercise." Usain's father, Wellesley, summed up the solution quite correctly. He said: "All it really takes is smart governance. Everyone would benefit and our economy would improve."

It seems to me that what Wellesley Bolt sees as the solution, or an important part of the solution, is the governance arrangement proposed since 1993 in local government reform (LGR). According to Vision 2030, supported by both the PNP and the JLP, "... it is the current process of local government reform in Jamaica which presents a new approach to governance."

Facilitate participation

Ministry Paper 8/93 tells us that the focal objective of the LGR is "to create a decentralised, democratically controlled system of local administration which will facilitate maximum participation by all elements of the local community in the management of local affairs and taking the initiative to solve local problems".

The fundamental tenet is the "centrality of the principle that citizens should have a direct say in the management of their own affairs and to actively participate in the governance process. The essence of the reform agenda is the empowerment of citizens/communities and local authorities." It is this empowerment of citizens and communities that will enable the residents of Sherwood Content to establish a tourist attraction. The fact that neither the PNP nor the JLP administration has implemented the LGR is a telling story about the priority given to people/community empowerment.

I am of the view that this conception of governance relies on the role of activist citizens as the central actors in our democratic process. At the heart of this conception are two central aspects of democracy that we must actively pursue:

1 An improved representative democracy - where we, the people, ensure that our will is expressed in the lawmaking process and is not dominated by the will of Cabinet and the political party.

2 Direct democracy - where the people can directly shape the rules by which the society operates. Section 49(3) of our Constitution provides for direct involvement of the people in decision-making through a referendum. But we have never held a referendum during the 50 years of our independence. Our only referendum was held in 1961. We must not only hold referendums on important decisions, but also pursue 'ballot initiatives' such as petitions.

Switzerland leads the world in this form of participatory democracy that allows individuals or groups outside the legislative arena to draft legislation and qualify it for the election ballot. It is important to note that there is also an 'educative' by-product. Research has shown that the initiative encourages citizens to become more politically engaged and, in so doing, improves the general state of civic affairs and public discourse. Researchers have noted that citizens turning out to vote are likely to increase with their exposure to initiatives on the ballots.

In my mind, this approach to improving our democracy is what is necessary because there is no systematic mechanism for the people to make known the collective will of the society outside mass elections, riots and threats of riots, or 'bawl-outs'. The Partnership for Transformation (PFT), while a step in the direction of participatory governance, has no adequate framework to give the citizens of Sherwood Content and other communities a voice. The PFT process must ultimately lead to improved representative democracy and an expanded form of direct democracy.

So how do we achieve 'smart governance'?

Change focus

I suggest we start by changing the focus of our conversation about the leadership of our country to a conversation about followership - more specifically, a conversation about the role of the Jamaican people in improving the governance of our country.

Let's talk about our political apathy and how to stop acting like tenants, or squatters, waiting for our political landlords to fix our problems. Let's start acting like the real owners of this country. Let's talk about the responsibilities of 'owners', and role of an owner vs the role of hired hands in the development of this great country of ours.

After we have changed our conversation, let's change our behaviour. Decide what you really want to see changed in the country and join an organisation that is doing it or actively build a new organisation, if you can't find one to join. It is our collective habits and practices of democratic behaviour in organisations where we exercise people power that will be the main building blocks for creating smart governance for the people and by the people.

During our five decades of Independence, we have changed political leaders and sat back and waited for the leaders to solve the myriad of social and economic problems we face, while we continue, unchanged, our political apathy.

In my mind, it is only when the Jamaican people start changing their conversation and behaviour towards political leadership that we will really begin to see the change to a smart governance arrangement and improved democracy that can turn this great country of ours around.

Rosalea Hamilton, PhD, is vice-president, development and community service, UTech, and president, The MSME Alliance. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and rosaleahamilton@gmail.com.