St Catherine councillors push back against Morgan on roads

People’s National Party (PNP) councillors at the St Catherine Municipal Corporation have pushed back against comments by Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, with responsibility for works, Robert Morgan, blaming municipal councils for the poor condition of parts of Jamaica’s road network.

Speaking during Thursday’s general meeting of the corporation, the councillors argued that local authorities lack the resources needed to maintain the extensive network of roads for which they are responsible.

Councillor for the Lauriston division, Keisha Lewis, who raised the issue, said Morgan was directing blame in the wrong place.

“Mr Chairman, I take this quite personally because, as a councillor, I don’t know which councillor in this chamber would not want to fix all the bad roads in their division to gain the respect of the people,” she said.

Lewis argued that councillors do not have the financial resources required to carry out the necessary repairs and called for an increase in allocations from the Parochial Revenue Fund (PRF) to better equip them to fulfil their responsibilities.

In a recent newspaper article, Morgan argued that members of parliament and the central government receive undue criticism for road conditions that fall under the remit of the Ministry of Local Government.

He contended that the problem was not simply a lack of funding, but also the way existing resources are managed by local authorities.

Waterford Councillor Fenley Douglas backed Lewis’ position but went further, suggesting that Morgan should step aside if he was unable to manage the portfolio effectively.

Douglas pointed to the sheer scale of Jamaica’s road network, arguing that the resources allocated to municipal corporations are insufficient for the responsibility they are expected to shoulder.

He said Jamaica has between 26,000 and 27,000 kilometres of roads, of which local government is responsible for roughly 15,000 kilometres.

“The entire amount of money sent to parish councils annually is approximately $6 billion, and while we get $6 billion for 15,000 kilometres of roads, it is woefully inadequate and impossible, even if you were a miracle worker,” Douglas said.

He also argued that some of the roads the central government is asking parish councils to repair are major town roads that do not fall within the ambit of the PRF.

“It’s time for them to stop giving parish councils basket to carry water. Enough is enough,” he said.

Douglas said any strategy Morgan develops to finance road repairs must involve municipal corporations.

Meanwhile, Jamaica Labour Party councillor for the Troja division, Robert Grandison, supported calls for increased funding for the municipal corporation but took issue with some of Douglas’ remarks, pointing to what he described as the PNP’s neglect of roads when it controlled the central government.

Grandison also raised concerns about the collection and management of resources at the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, arguing that the corporation must examine its own operations while pressing for additional support from central government.

“We need to look at how we collect, manage and use resources that we get here at the St Catherine Municipality. We need to look internal before we look external,” Grandison said.

ruddy.mathison@gleanerjm.com