After starting in July this year, The Thorne Commission on Local Governance has been working, says chairman Ralph Thorne QC.
He made this point at the first town hall meeting to canvass views from the public on People’s Assemblies on Wednesday night, stating that while not much has been heard from them after the launch, they have held consultations with interest groups.
“We had a consultation with the Social Justice Commission in the Ministry of Labour. We’ve had consultations with trade unions in Barbados and we have had a consultation as recently as last week with permanent secretaries of Barbados and the media as well.
“That is not to say that the public is any less important because there’s a sense that this begins what we hope to be the most active engagement with Barbados in terms of promoting the idea of local governance, and we’re hoping and expecting that as we traverse Barbados over the next few weeks and months, that the public of Barbados will feel that they have a right and a social and moral duty to participate in these deliberations.”
Thorne described what was happening as a “rare occasion” when “Government was trying to implement a system” and solicited the public’s input in its design and to the final model.
(GBM)
