Minister, please identify the real enemy

The National Caucus of PNP Councillors has taken note of media comments attributed to the Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Works, Hon. Robert Nesta Morgan, MP, regarding the responsibility of Municipal Corporations and councillors for parochial roads maintenance.

The Minister should be aware that councillors do not shy away from accountability. Municipal Corporations have responsibility for parochial roads, but responsibility without adequate resources, as is the case with NWA, does not make for a good maintenance programme.

The Government itself acknowledges that Jamaica has approximately 25,000 to 27,000 kilometres of roads, while the National Works Agency maintains approximately 5,000 kilometres. Municipal Corporations are responsible for more than 15,000 kilometres of parochial roads, with the wider road network also comprising roads falling under other classifications and areas of responsibility.

The real issue is whether the level of funding provided to Municipal Corporations is sufficient for effective maintenance and rehabilitation of this extensive road network. 

Any objective assessment of the performance of local government must consider both sides: responsibility and resources.

Municipal Corporations get just over $6 billion annually across all parishes, while the government’s main, but not only, intervention, SPARK, is at J$ 45 billion. REACH, which addresses road and infrastructure needs in rural communities, is another $4 billion.

The Parochial Revenue Fund, from which municipal roads are maintained, is not a personal road fund at the disposal of individual councillors. Resources are allocated through Municipal Corporations, which must contend with competing demands for road maintenance, drainage, disaster mitigation and other municipal responsibilities as well as being saddled with offsetting the shortfalls in salaries.

The Caucus, therefore, strongly objects to the Minister’s intemperate and divisive comments and urges that the discussion should move beyond blame towards transparency and equity.

The caucus calls on the Minister to publish all numbers and allow Jamaicans to know now the full picture, instead of indulging in this everlasting blame game and to take some accountability for his ministry.

The National Caucus of PNP Councillors is also calling for increased allocations to the Parochial Revenue Fund and a sustainable financing framework that gives Municipal Corporations the capacity and resources to properly maintain roads for which they have statutory responsibility. The people do not need a blame game. They need roads that are safe and properly maintained, not a Minister playing to the electoral gallery.