( L - R ) Montague, Brown

Local government officials are defending their recent trip to The Bahamas which cost taxpayers more than $10 million.

"It was money well spent," declared state minister with responsibility for Local Government, Robert 'Bobby' Montague, hours after he returned to the island yesterday.

"I agree that $10 million is a lot of money but it must be looked at in the context of the investment. Every day you say 'increase the capacity of the councils' and that the councillors must be upgraded, but what better investment than in your people?" Montague added.

According to Montague, the four-day Commonwealth Local Government Conference in The Bahamas was invaluable for the more than 70 councillors and support staff.

Exposed to information

He said the Jamaicans met persons from across the Commonwealth to look at best practices in local government and options for the survival of parish councils during the current economic crisis.

"They (the councillors) were exposed in three days to the amount of information they would not normally get in three years," said Montague.

He said in addition to the human development, the delegation returned from The Bahamas with a commitment from the European Union for J$127 million to assist the six parishes where the banana industry is struggling and a commitment from the United States firm Microsoft to provide software valued at US$200,000 to assist the Jamaican police to plug into an international anti-crime network.

In addition, Montague said the Federation of Canadian Municipalities also used the Bahamas conference to commit CDN$20 million (J$1.3 billion) to assist Jamaican local government authorities increase their capacity.

Montague was supported by Milton Brown, the chairman of the Association of Local Government Authorities and mayor of May Pen, who also attended the conference.

"I think it was a significant investment in human capital. I think the persons who went, the councillors and the administrators, are much better off for the experience," Brown said.

"It will manifest itself by the services offered by the local authorities in the immediate future," Brown added.

Everyone should experience

Another participant at the conference, Errol Greene, town clerk at the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, shared his views.

Greene, who was attending his third Commonwealth Local Government Conference, told The Gleaner that everyone involved in local government should be exposed to the seminars and meetings which formed part of the event.

"We shared ideas and best practices and while we learnt from some countries, there were others who were impressed with aspects of the operations in Jamaica such as the public participation in the creation of budgets at some councils," Greene said.

Several questions were asked last week after news broke that more than 70 people had left the island for the conference in The Bahamas.

The Opposition People's National Party raised issue about the size of the delegation and the cost to taxpayers at a time when the administration was asking Jamaicans to "tighten their belts".

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com