Modernising local government by fragmentation: Lessons from the Portmore municipal experiment, Jamaica

Modernization of local government leads inevitably to the vexed question of how best to structure local authorities to meet the changing circumstances in which they operate. This is no less an issue for the Caribbean in general and Jamaica in particular, where forces such as increased suburbanizatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Commonwealth journal of local governance 2010-03 (5), p.102-125
Main Author: Schoburgh, Eris D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizen participation
Decentralization in government
Economies of scale
Evaluation
Local government
Management
Municipal Corporation Act, 2003 (legislation)
Public administration
Social aspects
Suburbanization
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Summary:Modernization of local government leads inevitably to the vexed question of how best to structure local authorities to meet the changing circumstances in which they operate. This is no less an issue for the Caribbean in general and Jamaica in particular, where forces such as increased suburbanization and increasing citizen demands have prompted policy shifts to respond to the changing world of local government. Re-structuring may be proposed to serve a number of key objectives: to achieve economies of scale; to assure organisational viability; or to reinvigorate local democracy. The Portmore Municipal Council in Jamaica, established under the Municipalities Act of 2003 represents fragmentation of the previous local government structure and innovates local policy and administration in two ways: through popular election of the mayor, and through new institutional arrangements designed to promote local/community self-management. This paper reviews the experience of the PMC during its formative years of operation to determine the extent to which the philosophy and practice of local/community self-management are in fact being institutionalised in the operations of the municipality, and to identify lessons for the broader adoption of a process of 'municipalisation'.
ISSN:1836-0394
1836-0394
DOI:10.5130/cjlg.v0i5.1468