Discourse PM Visits Benefit Constituencies

by Earl Bousquet

April 17, 2002 - By his own admission, Micah George is genuinely confused over what to make of the Prime Minister’s official constituency visits. In his April 11, 2002 “Up Close and Personal” column of the Voice, he admits being torn between seeing them as “a stroke of political brilliance” or “popularity stunts” aimed at improving the ruling Labour Party’s base support in the constituencies visited.

            Being closely associated with documenting what takes place during those visits, I can assure Micah that while he may see them in terms of “political brilliance”, the visits are in no way intended to be mere political popularity stunts. I can also disabuse his mind of the thought that nothing has ever (or will ever) come out of the PM’s visits.

            Admittedly, there may be no public document or report he can easily place his hands on to learn what has resulted from the visits that have already taken place. However, any effort by him, simple as it would have been, to contact the relevant persons in any related government department, or in any of the constituencies already visited, would have resulted in his ability to learn of at least some of the concerns raised, promises made and actions that followed.

            For example, a call to the Community Development Officers (CDO’s) who would have accompanied the Prime Minister on any of his previous visits – or to any of the many ministers, ministry officials and representatives of LUCELEC, WASCO and other governmental bodies also normally represented – would have provided enough material to have cleared up his confusion and caused Micah to arrive at the opposite conclusion: that things do indeed happen after the PM visits – big things, as well as little things.

            Take the PM’s visit to the constituency of Anse la Raye/Canaries in the year 2000. Since then, among the things he promised that have come to fruition are: the Seafood Friday in Anse la Raye and the Canaries jetty. A brand new public toilet facility that remained closed for several months as a result of administrative bureaucracy was opened virtually the day after the PM visited. The river in Anse la Raye was diverted to prevent continued flooding in a section of the village (near the playing field) where residents complained during the PM’s visit about official neglect of their pleas for many, many years before. The rotting and termite infested Anse la Raye police station that the police officers complained of during the visit has been replaced by a brand new structure. Erosion and other concerns in the Jacmel cemetery have been addressed.  The Caico Bridge at Millet has been repaired. And a new Human Resource Development Centre for Jacmel, a need for which was highlighted during the PM’s visit, is now on the drawing board.

            These are but a few of the many things that have been done in that single constituency since the Prime Minister’s visit. The list is much, much longer wqhen one considers the number of constituencies already visited. They include: Choiseul, Vieux Fort North, Laborie, Dennery South, Micoud South, Micoud North, Soufriere, Anse La Raye/Canaries, Castries South and Castries East. His next visit is to Castries North, which had been rescheduled for June 6 and 7.

            The visits also help strengthen grassroots democracy by taking government to the people. They provide an opportunity for the PM to get a first-hand account of the issues and problems facing the communities visited and for the citizens of those areas to speak directly to him about the impact of government projects or presence in the community, or lack thereof. They allow the touring party to assess the level and impact of representation by the Parliamentary Representative and provide a platform for the constituents to not only identify their problems, but to also be part of the search for solutions.

Each two-day constituency visit begins with tours to government projects, communities needing attention or agricultural areas. And they all conclude with a public session at which the Prime Minister and his accompanying ministers and officials are questioned and obliged to give answers on issues of community or national interest. Political issues are also addressed, as the Prime Minister normally opens these uninhibited public sessions with an invitation to the packed halls of constituents to “ask me any question whatsoever.”

            The PM’s official constituency visits also provide an opportunity for the technocrats from the various ministries, government departments and public utility agencies to get a first-hand view of the situation in the areas they usually plan for at their desks at their corporate offices.

            It is therefore erroneous for Micah to suggest, as he has, that these official constituency visits by the Prime Minister amount to a waste of time. If anything, they better arm the Prime Minister, the MP, the accompanying ministers and officials with valuable, on-the-spot exposure to and knowledge and understanding of the issues, problems and prospects relating to the constituencies at hand.

But more than that, as I said earlier, the official visits to the island’s 17 constituencies by the head of government go a long way in helping to strengthen the involvement and participation of the people in the areas visited in the discussion of and search for solutions to the problems they face.

            And that, Dear Micah, is what democracy is all about.

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