Government accused of gerrymandering

The government was yesterday accused of gerrymandering when it drafted the new local councils' elections time-table. Speaking on the second reading of the Local Councils Act (Amendment) Bill, Labour MP Gino Cauchi said that the way localities were chosen to vote in specific years were only meant to give advantage to the party in government.

Elections in one third of the local councils would be held next Saturday. The next scheduled elections would be held in 2012 for half of the localities and the other half would vote in 2003.

Mr Cauchi was also highly critical of the amendment proposing five regions, saying it showed a political pattern that ensured that the PN would have three representatives out of five in the association of local councils.

Another amendment proposed that the president and vice-president of the association could not represent the association abroad. Mr Galea said such amendments were undemocratic and had to be dropped. What the government was doing was to regain control over the association of local councils and over Labour councils.

He asked whether the government had a hidden agenda in proposing these amendments. He recalled that when there was a majority of Labour councils in the country, the government, against all democratic principles, retained control of the association of local councils for a substantial period of time.

Mr Cauchi said the Bill was a half-baked reform with certain controversial proposals and others which were already being implemented by certain local councils. Other proposals were missing but it was being said that they would be introduced through legal notices.

The Bill showed that the government was overriding the decentralisation principle attempting to gain control over all councils by making them subject to government departments. He feared the government had ulterior motives.

The Bill gave wide discretionary powers to the Minister, even overriding council decisions. Why this direct intervention by the Minister? Was it to exercise control over labour councils?

Referring to the proposed pool of executive secretaries, Mr Cauchi said it ruled out the possibility of a council engaging a qualified person from the private sector.

It was unjust that the mayor and counsellors would have to submit to the secretary's authority because he had the support of the minister when the former were the elected representatives. The amendment that the secretary's performance be evaluated by the minister instead of the council would lead to conflict.

On a local level, the opposition had insisted that the right to vote for local councils be extended to youth over 16 years of age. The government was still denying them this right.

Concluding, Mr Cauchi criticised the Water Services Corporation and the Transport Authority on the way they treated local councils. He said government departments had to accept the cooperation principle with regards to the coordinating unit.

Earlier Nationalist MP Ċensu Galea said that since the inception of local councils 15 years ago, all mayors and councillors have worked for the benefit of their localities and he welcomed the increase in responsibilities being given to them by this Bill. However, he augured they would be given the adequate tools to continue their work.

Although the council's finances have increased over the past years some localities encounter difficulties. Among them are localities that receive an influx of seasonal residents and those whose social structure often lacks social cohesion and a sense of community.

He also called upon the owners of commercial outlets to act responsibly and to participate in the locality principally by ensuring that they abide by the conditions imposed by their licences and with waste collection regulations. Those businesses that do not carry their responsibilities harm not only the residents but also the business community within that locality.

Mayors and councillors should not plan their work during their period of office. Mr Galea augured that the increase of the term of office being proposed by the Bill would also bring about a mentality where projects be spread over a wider span of years as elections could hinder the implementation of projects. Once again, Mr Galea called on the Water Services Corporation to ensure that the laying of services is carried out in the light of the infrastructural needs of the locality. WSC should liaise better with the councils so as to keep them informed of the works it would undertake in the locality. Maintenance works should be undertaken more efficiently.

He welcomed the clarity with which the Bill specifies the responsibilities of the councils.

Joe Falzon (PN) said the reform was based on the principle that councils should be there for the service of residents, the commercial community and the locality.

In the past, councils had been regulated by the same law but not all councils obtained the same results. While some had been extremely successful, the intervention of the state had been required in others.

A number of councils had made great strides forward and this could be felt as soon as one entered that locality.

The reform, Mr Falzon said, was focusing particularly on training for councillors, secretaries, employees.

Councils' responsibilities had increased dramatically over the past 15 years and this was a reflection that they had been successful. But although many councillors had some form of experience in management, there were others who only had love for their locality and lacked the necessary skills to be a councillor. So training was beneficial.

He stressed the importance of accountability and of ensuring that the funds allocated to councils were well invested. There were councils that had achieved value for money and others which had not. The reform provided an answer to many of the problems experienced over the past 15 years.

Mr Falzon said that like many other MPs, he started his political career in the Msida local council. So councils could have encouraged people who had been working for their locality to move a step forward and be of service to the nation.

The responsibilities of an MP, he said, were bigger than those of a councillor but councillors had a much bigger impact on their locality.

Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia said that said he agreed with the amendments presented but had a number of reservations.

Giving an example, he said that although basing the mayor's honoraria on the number of residents in the locality made sense technically, it could be a superficial way of looking at the matter because certain localities had bigger problems in spite of fewer residents. The first district, for instance, suffered 24 per cent of the country's absenteeism problem, had 22 per cent of the people who lived in social housing and 20 per cent of the population who utilised clinics (bereġ). These figures showed the dependence of residents in the first district on the state.

Although these were not issues tackled by councils, they were problems councils had to face. Dr Farrugia said that one of the matters being proposed in the reform was that councillors should have their own e-mail address accessible from home.

Although this was positive, one had to be careful not to exclude certain people, such as the elderly, from contesting.

While a councillor employed in the civil service was being given the right to attend meetings during office hours without losing from his leave allowance, employees in the private sector were not being given the same facility.

He said it was positive that councils were being encouraged to organise their own sports activities.

While there was a football nursery in every locality, there were no sports disciplines that were female friendly and many girls were obese as a result. Councils should be encouraged to utilise facilities in their localities which were not being used.

Dr Farrugia said that it was also positive that elections were to start being held year in year out. This would avoid the creation of an election fatigue all over the country

He said he had wished to see more streamlining between councils. Dr Farrugia pointed out that while all localities in the first district were among the first 18 to collect the biggest amount of money from traffic fines, they were getting very little or none at all from funds in Mepa's commuted parking payment scheme.

Funds, he said, had been requested for particular projects but the requests had not always been accepted by the central government.

Some of the money collected from fines, Dr Farrugia said, should also be utilised to keep roads and pavements in a good condition.

Frederick Azzopardi (PN) said each locality had changed for the better because of initiatives undertaken by local councils especially in relation to the environment and infrastructure. Local councils are no longer an experiment but are an integral part of the public administration.

Councils are to participate more actively in the sectors of education, tourism and culture. He called on councils to be accountable and transparent to develop sustainable localities giving a better service to residents and ensuring a better quality of life.

Councils are to become one-stop shops and are not only to deal with issues falling under their functions but are also to act as liaisons between the residents and the services of government agencies and departments. Therefore, they require better IT systems for customer care departments and to offer e-government services.

Local councils' offices are to be accessible to all those who require their services and as proposed will also be open on Saturday to enable those who work during the week to have access to the council.

Mr Azzopardi referred to the honoraria that would be received by mayors and also to the €1,200 that would be given to each councillor after 2010 as an allowance to make good for the expenses they incur in the carrying out of their work. He said this would be worked pro rata to the meetings attended.

Moreover, councillors who work in the public service would be allowed to attend council meetings without this time being reduced from their leave entitlement and without their salary being reduced.

The debate continues on Monday.