Montague

A DRAFT constitutional amendment that will allow for the entrenchment of Local Government is now ready.

The update was given last week by State Minister with responsibility for Local Government Reform, Robert Montague, during his contribution to the 2008/09 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives.

"The constitutional entrenchment will finally set the legal basis for local government to be a separate sphere of Government," he said.

Montague said there are plans to merge some 17 pieces of legislation to create one Local Authority Act that would define the role and responsibility of the local authority. It would also re-define the role of the Municipal Services Commission and the local authority in managing their human resources. Additionally, the proposed local authority act would define the role and function of councillors and set the standards for a code of ethics and a code of conduct to guide the relationship between councillors and the public.

"We also seek to remove the various anomalies that exist in these laws," the state minister said.

Municipal courts, cops

Montague also informed that there are plans to establish a municipal police force and a municipal Court to enforce and regulate local and municipal laws.

Already, over 60 municipal officers have been trained at the Jamaica Constabulary Force's training academy at Twickenham Park and have been deployed.

"We are moving to train an additional 135 officers, so that all councils will have officers, and an on-going training programme implemented. The officers assist the councils in revenue enhancement," said Montague.