Local Government Of Trinidad

Local Government Of TrinidadDone By : Radha Sookram, Vanna Seusaran, Angelica Lazarus Rayn Cooper, Rheana Tai Kong, Simran Larrah, Shaniah Badaloo, Keegan Maikoo, Nicholas Ramdath, Sharmila Mansingh, Kimberly Parey, Beshanna Bhoodram & Japheth Arjoon

What is a Local Government?An administrative body for a small geographic area, such as a city, town, county, or state. A local government will typically only have control over their specific geographical region, and can not pass or enforce laws that will affect a wider area. Local governments can elect officials, enact taxes, and do many other things that a national government would do, just on a smaller scale.

History of the Local Government of TrinidadThe earliest type of municipality in Trinidad was the Royal Cabildo, which was established in St. Joseph in 1768 by Spanish colonists. The Cabildo exercised wide executive powers, performing a wide range of functions. The Cabildo appointed chief judges on the island, supervised markets, scavenged and repaired streets, controlled the police, the Royal Goal, the admission of physicians and surgeons, and levied duties and taxes on grog shops. The Cabildo's operations were much broader in scope that the municipal corporation today. The taxpayers elected the members of the Cabildo annually.

The last Spanish governor of Trinidad, Don Jose Maria Chacon, took office as Governor in 1783. He immediately set about restructuring the Cabildo by limiting its great power. Chacon ordered the Cabildo to be relocated from St. Joseph to Port of Spain in 1784.

Cabildo, (Spanish: municipal council), the fundamental unit of local government in colonial Spanish America.

In Trinidad there is a division of corporations that form the local government. There are 14 in all, subdivided into localities each represented by an elected councilor. The councilor in each Municipality select Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Chairmen and Vice Chairmen as necessary

Local Government in TrinidadArima Borough CorporationChaguanas Borough CorporationCouva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional CorporationDiego Martin Regional CorporationMayaro/Rio Claro Regional CorporationPenal/Debe Regional CorporationPoint Fortin Borough CorporationPort of Spain City CorporationPrinces Town Regional CorporationSan Fernando City CorporationSangre Grande Regional CorporationSan Juan/Laventille Regional CorporationSiparia Regional CorporationTunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation

City, Borough, regional Corporations :Fourteen Municipal Corporations

2 City CorporationsPort-of-Spain City CorporationSan Fernando City Corporation

3 Borough CorporationsArima Borough CorporationChaguanas Borough CorporationPoint Fortin Borough Corporation

9 Regional CorporationCouva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional CorporationDiego Martin Regional CorporationMayaro/Rio Claro Regional CorporationPenal/Debe Regional CorporationPrinces Town Regional CorporationSan Juan/Laventille Regional CorporationSangre Grande Regional CorporationSiparia Regional CorporationTunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation

Local Government in Trinidad is handled through 5 municipalities and 9 Regional Corporations in Trinidad.

Municipality-status towns The five towns with municipality-status are: The Borough of Arima The Borough of Chaguanas The City of Port-of-Spain The Borough of Point Fortin The City of San Fernandomunicipality-status :an urban district having corporatestatusand powers of self-government

Tunapuna-Piarco Regional Corporation: It is the largest by population of all the Regional Corporations The Tunapuna-Piarco Regional Corporation is headquartered in Tunapuna. Other towns include Arouca, Blanchisseuse, Curepe, St. Augustine, Trincity, and Piarco.

Regional Corporations in Trinidad

Port of Spain When Trinidad changed hands from Spanish to British rule in 1797, the Cabildo's powers were further limited as the new authorities attempted to change it into an English-type municipality. Ordinance No. 6 of 1840 transformed the Cabildo into the Town Council of Port of Spain. The governor served as the President of Town Council, with twelve members or Town Councilors, in what was a form of limited representative government.

The Town Council, owing to the rapid development of Port of Spain, soon outlasted its usefulness. In 1853, Municipal Corporations Ordinance No. 10 of 1853, established the Borough Council of Port of Spain. Dr. Louis DeVerteuil became the first mayor. However, owing to repeated quarrels with the central government over money, the British government revoked borough status, effective 1st January 1899, leaving Port of Spain in the hands of commissioners. A Town Board took over from the commissioners from 1907 to 1914, when the battle to reinstate borough status ended with Ordinance No. 24 of 1914, conferring the loftier status of city on Port of Spain.

San Fernando For San Fernando, the abolition of the Cabildo in 1840 and the creation of a Town Council in Port of Spain, gave the people of San Fernando the impetus to press for a similar authority. In 1846 San Fernando had a Town Council, with Dr. Robert Johnstone as its first president. San Fernando gained borough status in 1853 by the same ordinance which created the Port of Spain Borough Council. Dr. Johnstone was elected San Fernando's first mayor in elections on 3rd November of that same year. San Fernando became a city on 18th November 1989.

Arima Arima became a borough by Royal Charter in 1888. Queen Victoria granted the Royal Charter, making Arima the first - and only - Royal Borough in the Caribbean. British governor Sir William Robinson did the presentation.

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Apart from Port of Spain, San Fernando and Arima, only Point Fortin and Chaguanas have been elevated to borough status over the years: Point Fortin by Act No. 12 of 1980, and Chaguanas by Act No. 21 of 1990.

Presently there are 14 regional corporations in Trinidad. The Tobago House of Assembly is responsible for all local government activities on the sister isle. Previously, local government was administered by a system of county council which came into effect in 1945. This system can be traced back to the recommendations of two commissions of inquiry early in the 20th century.

Roles and responsibilities of Local GovernmentConvey the policy perspectives and guidelines of central governmentMonitor the finances and expenditureRender expert adviceIssue guidelines on administrative and statutory regulationsSupervise the execution of projects and programmesCoordinate the activities of municipal corporations in order to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of services in a timely manner and also balanced growth development.Act as an adjudicator in cases of disputes between municipal corporations

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