Former local government practitioners on this island of Grand Bahama are opining on the future of local government in the country. According to them local government is not living up to its full potential.
Former practitioner, Harold Williams told ZNS News, “unless you have service in your heart and you’re dedicated to community service then you’re failing yourself and you’re gonna fail the community.” Williams went further stating, “being a local government representative is not attractive because it doesn’t pay, there’s no salary. There’s a stipend of $75. And so it is very difficult to attract the brightest minds.”
Another former practitioner, Alexander Williams highlighted the need for local government to return to the school system. “One of the things we have been doing over the years and cease to happen for no apparent reason, we introduced local government into the schools. We established junior councils in the high schools. We are now hope that we can reintroduce the junior councils in the high schools. We’re hoping that within the curriculum in the schools local government can be also introduced. At a very early age they should know what is local government, what they do, what is expected of them.”
