Every able-bodied, adult citizen without mental impairment should be able to provide fully for himself or herself and contribute meaningfully to the welfare of other members of society. This requires consistent access to dedicated, task-specific institutions at each stage of development. These institutions provide the inputs that are necessary for optimal human development, which include good health (mental and physical), sound character, a good fund of knowledge, and creative self-expression which includes creative optimization of the lived environment. The main purpose of Government is to establish, operationalize and coordinate the institutions and systems necessary for these inputs to be provided at each stage of the citizen’s development to permit the self-improvement and growth necessary for a purpose-filled, productive life. These institutions must therefore be permanently established locally, within a 3 or 4-mile radius of each citizen’s primary residence for ease of access. This was not the main objective of Jamaica’s colonial government, whose primary aim was to satisfy the objectives of the British crown, with seamless adoption of these systems and practices by the new government of independent Jamaica and embedded in the Jamaica (Constitution) Order in Council, 1962. The time has come to revise this grave omission with a full rewrite of the purpose, structure and function of government in a new Constitution of Jamaica. This new constitution will represent a permanent guide and mandate for the people and government of Jamaica, from which there can be no deviation without constitutional amendments.
Suggested Constitutional Inclusions and Mandates:
Institutions Necessary for the Welfare and Optimal Development of the Jamaican person.
- schools,
- health professionals – nurses (general, public health, psychiatric), doctors,
- church organizations,
- boy scouts, girl guides,
- music club (equipped facilities),
- sports clubs (cricket, football, netball, volley ball),
- computer labs,
- library,
- police,
- training centres,
- social clubs,
- business organizations
Required inputs for the Welfare and Optimal Development of the Jamaican person – development of character – assimilated through instruction:
- education
- nutrition and health
- spiritual awareness
- moral principles
- social and cultural awareness/identity
- general knowledge
- self-discipline
- dignity
- civility
- humility
- ambition
- truthfulness
- self-confidence
- determination
- work ethic
- mental focus
- creativity.
Structured and Organized Communities and Local Government System:
(Note: The paucity or complete absence of leadership institutions within communities, and the lack of necessary resources to ensure their effectiveness results in an underdeveloped and uncivilized citizenry with attendant civil disorder, crime (including murders), and under-productivity, the recipe for “garrisonization” and criminal gangs. Recent laws to improve local governance, The Local Governance Act, the Local Government Unified Service and Employment Act, and The Local Government Financing and Financial Management Act, have been totally ignored. This legacy of colonial rule can be corrected by creating constitutionally-mandated community-based organizations that integrate the institutions that are important for wholesome human development, supported by funding from a mix of public and philanthropic (local and international) sources.)
Local Government Authority (LGA)
Local Government Authorities shall consist of:
(1) Community Councils
(2) Area Councils (current Divisions)
(3) Parish Council
Community Council – Community based organizations, community institutions, community members and other stakeholders shall nominate and vote for a Community Council Executive (President, vice-president, secretary and treasurer) every 4 years.
Area Council – The Executive members of 4 contiguous Community Councils shall elect an Area Council President and Vice-President from among the Community Council Presidents.
The citizens of each Area Council shall elect a representative, Parish Councillor, to the Parish Council every 4 years. A Parish Councillor shall be a citizen of Jamaica, who was born in Jamaica, is over the age of 18 years, and has resided continuously in Jamaica for the preceding 10 years.
Parish Council – The Area Council Presidents, the elected representative of the citizens of each Area Council (Parish Councillor), and the head of the Parish Administrative Authority (Parish Administrator) shall form a Parish Council. The members of the Parish Council shall elect an Executive Body (President, vice-president, secretary and treasurer), not including the parish Administrator, every 4 years.
*Municipality Council (Area Council Equivalent) – Mayor, Deputy Mayor
Community
- A community of 1,000 – 2,500 individuals that is not part of a Municipality shall be called a village and shall be defined by specified geographic boundaries
- A village shall elect a Community Council Executive (President, vice-president, secretary and treasurer) every 4 years.
- The name of the community and its Executive shall be gazetted in the Jamaica Gazette.
The Community Council Executive shall be responsible for the good governance of the community, ensure the welfare of every member of the community consistent with the laws of Jamaica, establish community-based organizations that are known to enhance the welfare and optimal development of community members.