Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

Consultant Keith Miller has attributed the slow progress of Local Government reform to the number of players who have to be consulted or convinced to buy into the transformation process.

Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Mr. Miller, who is attached to the Ministry of Local Government, said, while much has been accomplished within the last 11 years, the process of reform has been slow.

He noted that the reform was being undertaken in a moving environment and, as such, things do not remain static.

"It is a process that depends on a lot of institutional changes, a lot of convincing of players from different sectors and segments and so the very fact that it is exposed to this ... not everybody tend to see eye to eye," he explained.

Must take time

Mr. Miller said that there have been mixed reactions to the reform. He said that many of the parish councils are now functioning in a much more participatory way with the local communities through the Parish Development Committees (PDCs), which were established under the reform. The PDCs allow citizens to participate actively in national development.

He, however, noted that the process would take time.

Highlighting some progress made under the reform, Mr. Miller said one was the establishment of new mechanisms for the financing of parish councils such as the creation of the Parochial Revenue Fund, which generates money from parking, bus terminal and market fees.

He explained that before reform began, the councils received 95 per cent of their revenue through grants from Central Government. But with new measures, such as the Parochial Revenue Fund, the councils are now empowered to tap into new sources to generate their own revenue.