{"id":93366,"date":"2013-05-23T11:45:07","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T15:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=93366"},"modified":"2013-05-23T11:48:30","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T15:48:30","slug":"commentary-the-predicament-of-the-portsmouth-town-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-the-predicament-of-the-portsmouth-town-council\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMENTARY: The predicament of the Portsmouth Town Council"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A
A street in Portsmouth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

News surfaced recently that the Mayor of Portsmouth, Mr. Cleve St Jean, is worried that the Portsmouth Town Council is at risk of slipping into irrelevance through failure of residents of the town to pay house and land rates.<\/p>\n

This should be of no surprise to the Mayor as the situation has persisted over a prolonged period of time and the current Central Government has no real interest in remedying the situation. Instead, the Council is now used as a footstool by The Labour Party in pursuit of its machinations in the community.<\/p>\n

In October 2011 then acting Prime Minister Reginald Austrie at the inauguration of the Portsmouth Town Council, voiced what now seems an administration position that: \u201cThe Portsmouth (Council) should be quite capable of meeting all its budgetary requirements through the collection of its House and land rates\u201d.<\/p>\n

This comment came against the backdrop of continued requests, written and otherwise, on the part of the Town Council for a Tipper Truck which was promised to the council years before by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and the Labour Party Government.<\/p>\n

The Minister of Community Development Hon. Gloria Shillingford then echoed Mr. Austrie\u2019s comments on the \u201cresource rich\u201d Portsmouth Town Council, seemingly forgetting that two years earlier the\u00a0 PTC Land and House Tax resolution along with a new budget, House and Land Rates and request for review of the Government subvention which still stands at EC$ 18,000.00per month\u00a0 was not approved by her ministry for the stated reason that;\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cit is not prudent to raise taxes prior to an election\u201d. Current levels of funding and revenue barely caters for the limited staffing and operations. Councilors are forced to forego their monthly honoraria and the council is mired in debt. Thus the quality of services rendered by the Council and received by residents is poor and inadequate. Even given the statutory responsibility to pay taxes, it is not surprising that residents are reluctant to pay up given this state of affairs.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, the Portsmouth Town Council had just been through months of debate and deliberation on an increase in the tax rates in the town, which now sits at .0075 cents on the dollar value of any house in the town and .0060 cents on the dollar for vacant lands. We eventually agreed that there would have been no increase in rates due to the expansion of the tax base brought about by a careful reassessment of all properties within the municipality.<\/p>\n

My own view on the matter is that along with the broadening of the tax base the rates and calculation of the same should be reviewed\u00a0 and\u00a0 changes made to accommodate the diverse commercial and residential development\u00a0 in the municipality.<\/p>\n

The Roseau City Council and Canefield Urban Council rates are set at 1.25 cents per dollar value of the properties within their municipalities. The subvention for the Portsmouth Town council has not been reviewed since 1990\u2019s or maybe even prior to that. In the meantime the size of the community has more than tripled.<\/p>\n

The facts are that the Ministry of Community Development did not take the time out to review the proposal by the Portsmouth Town Council nor did it feel the need to dialogue with the council before deciding carte blanche that the proposals were un-approvable.<\/p>\n

It may be safe to conclude that the current administration has already given up on the Local Government System and the Portsmouth town council as, on assuming office, they created what is called the Ministry of Constituency Empowerment. This new Ministry, seemingly an institutionalization of the Red Clinic has surreptitiously usurped functions of the Ministry of Community Development;\u00a0 funneling\u00a0 funds for community projects \u201cthrough the council\u201d directly to party supporters, without any tendering\u00a0 process . Today it is not uncommon for contracts for community projects to be determined in the bars and rum shops around the community. To add insult to injury the council is now subject to direct instruction from political appointees, in some instances directing the council to pay funds to contractors who were not properly contracted by the council.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Community Development and the Welfare Department are no longer responsible for the allocation of Housing to the needy under the vaunted Housing Revolution Program; This role now rests with Constituency Empowerment offices.\u00a0\u00a0 Now stories are circulating of small business grants being made through these offices without any diligence or process. Seemingly the underlying objective being deposits on potential votes. Resources which the Council normally managed to the benefit of the municipality have been systematically eroded and diverted to the Red Clinic Ministry.<\/p>\n

These are but some of the issues affecting the proper governance of the town of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Town Council.\u00a0 The people, accustomed to little or nothing, feel beholden to the party in power which they have supported for the past 60 odd years, and which now holds the power of the handout over them.\u00a0 The council, drawn of course from the citizenry of the municipality, is afflicted by the same malady.<\/p>\n

In the strongest of Labour Party strongholds, councilors themselves aligned with the Labour Party Government, are reluctant to enforce the collection of rates through measures provided within the law. There can be only two explanations for this: One being that \u201cthey fear that such action may anger residents of the town, triggering a backlash at the polls for their beloved party.\u201d\u00a0 I am certain that any sane individual, given the voting history of the town would find that quite improbable, but not so the Minister of Community Development, or the Councilors of the Portsmouth Town Council. The other explanation would be that they lack the political will power, or as some would say, the \u201ccajones\u201d to get the job done.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, I do agree that the town of Portsmouth should have no problems meeting it\u2019s revenue targets, but that would have to take a departure from the status quo. It would demand a council not concerned with political parties and affiliations; one strictly focused on good governance of the town without fear or favor. It would take forward thinking persons who are willing to innovate; to think outside the current Rubik\u2019s cube of a box that the council continues to operate within.\u00a0It would take recognition from Central Government that, the town of Portsmouth is too important to the economy of the country to be treated lightly or to be taken for granted; that resources befitting the development of the potential engine of growth of our economy, should be commensurately allocated to the town. It is in fact inexcusable for the Minister of Tourism parliamentary representative for Portsmouth to allow the most touristic community on the island to slide into such a state of dilapidation, especially given how important Yacht tourism is to the town of Portsmouth.<\/p>\n

I often surmise that the town of Portsmouth suffers from a condition similar to that of \u201cBattered Spouse Syndrome\u201d.\u00a0 Defined as:\u00a0 \u201ca psychological problem in individuals who are repeatedly abused by their spouses, The person becomes depressed and unable to take any independent action that would allow him or her to escape the abuse\u201d it is also referred to as \u201c Learned Helplessness\u201d Similarly, Portsmouth seems to have settled for less clinging to the hope, that one day the battering will stop and things will get better.<\/p>\n

We are not a timid people, some of the brightest minds and capable leaders have originated from our town and we should never cower in fear of the future, for we have the strength resources and potential to be the best there is.<\/p>\n

Unless the People of Portsmouth can realize this pride and come to a realization of this political and economic importance of their constituency, unless we demand that we be treated per that status, then we will continue to flounder.<\/p>\n

Infrastructural tokens and white elephants handed down by governments and politicians seeking to manipulate the minds of the populace with the visual, rather than real systemic and policy changes that will positively affect the lives of the unemployed and poor among us through the stimulation of economic and social development should never be enough!<\/p>\n

Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Dominica News Online or its advertisers.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News surfaced recently that the Mayor of Portsmouth, Mr. Cleve St Jean, is worried that the Portsmouth Town Council is at risk of slipping into irrelevance through failure of residents of the town to pay house and land rates. 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