Pauline Etienne
21 March 2008
Port Louis — Parliamentary sessions resume as from next Tuesday. Among the bills to be presented in the coming months, a brand new Local Government Act is expected to bring amendments and stability to that sector.
"No government has been able to put some order in the field of local government. Hence, it is high time to review the law, we have been doing too much dilly-dallying", says the former mayor of Beau-Bassin-Rose-Hill, Deven Nagalingum. The Parliament, which resumes as from next Tuesday, is expected to adopt the new legislation on local administrations during this session. More than a mere dusting off, the act is intended to revamp totally the sector. A new law should give way to the Local Government (Amendment) Bill.
What the new bill will achieve is greater independence for local governments and a review of the functioning of local government as well as their relations with central government. The lack of independence of municipal councils is one of the biggest hurdles for local governments because the government tends to overrule all decisions.
According to Deven Nagalingum, the fact that all powers are centralised at national level implies that the right decisions are not always taken at the right time. "The municipal council is close to its people and knows what their priorities should be. The ministry does not know the citizens' realities."
The strength of local administrations is supposed to lie in the rapidity to make decisions and implement them. But the fact that they need to take orders from the ministry for most decisions does not make the system efficient. "The central and regional/local government interface should be so managed as to ensure that both the national and the grass-roots authorities offer a better public administration to, and for, the citizens. The Council - local or regional - cannot be subordinate to any person or body, appointed or even elected. Being the legitimate partner of central government in its task of national development, it cannot be its agency," maintains Chit Dukhira, former secretary of Beau-Bassin-Rose-Hill who is now fighting for the rehabili-tation of municipal powers through its association Selex.
According to Chit Dukhira, the ministry of Local Government "should not be even perceived as one of tutelage. As the official facilitator and coordinator at national level, it has the duty to give to local and regional authorities all the necessary encouragement and assistance to play their roles properly."
More transparency
He goes even further: "In many advanced countries, there does not even exist a minister for Local/Regional Government. With a Director of Local Government/ Devolution and his/her staff, the ministry of Internal Affairs, normally under the Prime minister's jurisdiction, ensures any task concerning devolution, mostly of a coordinating nature or for suggesting or commenting on any revised or new relevant legislation".
A Commonwealth expert, Michael Ashley, submitted a report on the reform of local administrations to the government about one year ago. Part of the proposals made is expected to be part of the new Local Government Act. More transparency and responsibility are among the recommendations made by the expert.
The mayor's powers have also been the source of many discussions. The chairman of Selex is of the opinion that "in Mauritius, the Mayor, who formerly exercised executive powers, has been stripped of even the minor vestigial statutory responsibilities, except that of signing, together with the CEO, non-financial documents".
The length of the mandate does not encourage mayors to work hard because one year is a short time to implement important decisions. Deven Nagalingum points out the difficulty for a new municipal team to take up its job "with a budget already dipped into, as it was set through the presentation of the budget previously in July". He thus recommends five-year plans that would take the expectations of local citizens into consideration. Likewise, Chit Dukhira thinks we could follow the example of other countries. "In a number of countries, for example France and its overseas territories, as well as metropolitan cities like New York, London and Calcutta, a trend now followed in the Third World too, including Africa, the Mayor, elected for five years on the strength of his/her or the party's, programme, holds considerable executive powers."
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