Peta-Ann Baker,Contributor

THE GLEANER editorial of July 31 greeted Prime Minister Bruce Golding's announcement that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) would be a likely victim of the pending agreement with the International Monetary Fund with a forceful "may it rest in peace!" In this, the newspaper will have the support of many members of the public who see the CDF as just another version of the People's National Party (PNP) administration's Social and Economic Support Programme, both instruments of pork barrel politics.

It may not be such a good idea to disagree with the venerable editor, or, as thoughtful a commentator as Martin Henry, who has consistently opposed the involvement of members of parliament in matters he considers the responsibility of the public sector. But I have to suggest that the issue of the role of the member of parliament (MP) in the development process, especially at the local level, cannot be resolved simply by recourse to a Constitution which stipulates that the role of the elected representative is to make laws for the 'good order' of the country. We recognise that our Constitution needs revision in other areas, so why not in this one as well?

I must acknowledge that the way in which most MPs have traditionally gone about responding to the individual and collective needs of their constituents has indeed helped to "perpetuate the concept of politicians as distributors of benefits ... to whom their constituents ought to be beholden" (Gleaner, July 31). However, the reality is that, at many of the points of closest interface with the public, those whom we would want to charge with the responsibility for implementing the wishes of our legislators: civil servants are themselves not that 'civil'. It would be an extreme act of denial to ignore the fact that many public sector employees also behave as if service users are beholden to them. This is one of the reasons some persons regret the removal of user fees at hospitals, even though they can scarcely afford them.

Slights and insults

They feel that when they were paying fees they were in a better position to challenge the slights and insults that they endure from workers in the public health system. The story repeats itself in agriculture, in education and several other public agencies, and in no small way contributes to the hostility that characterises exchanges between public sector workers and the public.

There are also private sector agencies that operate as if their customers are beholden to them. A leading Jamaican financial institution involved in providing loans to micro and small enterprises comes to mind. The room in which one waits for attention reminds of the United States Embassy visa section. You sit in one of several chairs laid out in rows and wend your way forward. You discuss your business idea and needs with the agency representative at the front of the room in full view and hearing of all around you. It is only when it is determined that you are not wanting to borrow a nominal amount, simply to 'buy and sell', and might have a more substantial business idea that you are permitted to make your way into another section of the building where you receive the kind of consideration which ought to be available to everyone regardless of their status.

Does any of this justify the way in which too many of our MPs deal with their constituents? Absolutely not. We should note, however, that Professor Obika Grey has argued in his study of the power of the urban poor that the relationship between politician and constituent is neither one way nor consistently disempowering. In fact, he suggests that the political disposition of benefits has helped to strengthen the assertiveness and confidence of the poor and enabled them to confront the patronising and often contemptuous behaviours of the rich with whom they must contend. However, we would be foolish to disregard the waste, violence and destruction which our system of patronage has generated. To borrow from Grey, "the culture of benefit politics" has undermined, if not destroyed, the possibility for social transformation because it has created a cast of actors with high levels of investment in the system. So what is to be done?

The practice of benefit politics

While some Jamaican MPs have tried to break with the practice of benefit politics, I want to look at an approach that is being tried in Belize. The Samuel Haynes Institute of Excellence is an attempt "to improve the quality of life of the poorest children and women in three low income communities on the 'Southside' of Belize City, namely Pickstock, Lake Independence and Collect". It is an initiative of the Pickstock Development Association, which is the local party organisation for the area, which is represented by Wilfred Elrington, attorney general and minister of foreign affairs in the government which came to office in 2008.

The description of the constituency reads like our own inner-city reality. Forty-three per cent of the residents of Southside are under 15 years of age, some 40 per cent of all murders in the country, many due to gang disputes over turf, occur in the area. The Samuel Haynes Institute for Excellence opened in February this year, as a result of constituents' desire for a safe space for their children to play and learn. The initiative has involved transforming a run-down building located in a corner lot overgrown with weeds into a complex that includes a brightly decorated pre-school facility, a well-lit basketball court, a library and a community centre.

Samuel Haynes, in whose honour the institute is named, was a Belizean patriot, author of the country's national anthem and a leading Garveyite. The institute's mission is to encourage students to develop critical thinking skills in order to become "confident and independent problem solvers, knowledgeable of their personal and social responsibilities". Their code of conduct is very clear: being found in possession of weapons or drugs, injuring another student, aggressive or defiant behaviour are all grounds for separation from the programme.

Enthusiastic volunteer workers

On the evening I visited the institute I met an enthusiastic set of volunteer workers and participants. I was introduced to a group to whom I was a total stranger, yet, they responded frankly to questions about how they handled the issue of people having differing party affiliations. They did not hide their own loyalties (nor did they parade them), and they were forthright that poverty and deprivation carried no party card. They were open to looking at how to expand the engagement of the community in the decision-making process.

These are not the ideas or practices that one associates with initiatives from political people. Obviously, the mobilisation of the resources needed has been helped by the fact that, in addition to being part of the ruling party, the area sepresentative is an attorney of some repute and the moving force behind the initiative, his wife, Barbara Elrington, is an education planner. Not surprisingly, state agencies like Belize's Social Investment Fund and the National Emergency Management Organisation have contributed to the programme. However, the willingness of international organisations like UNICEF and the European Union to support aspects of the work being done (with children and social housing respectively) is an indicator that this cannot be an exercise in patronage and clientelism.

Development task

Governance frameworks which perceive a pristine separation of the legislative, policy and operational functions come from a context that is not now, if it ever was relevant to our development task. Even while recognising the risks, the question must be not whether, but how, the people's elected representative should contribute to the development process at the local level.

The Samuel Haynes Institute of Excellence in Belize City is an example of one such approach. It is based on a willingness to engage in a deliberate process of consultation with one's constituents. It acknowledges and then seeks to go beyond party loyalty. It looks for interventions around which there can be consensus. Most important, it recognises the significance of building self-confidence and pride.

The irony is that this approach will likely yield the political returns so desired by all elected officials. Why then have we found it necessary to engage the destructive strategies of patronage and clientelism, and how at this stage can we escape from it? If the Jamaican CDF was just another example of this bankrupt approach, then it should indeed be left to rest in peace. But before we consign it to the graveyard, perhaps we should undertake a systematic examination of how these funds have operated. There might be lessons there for all of us.

Peta-Anne Baker is the coordinator of the Social Work Programme at the University of the West Indies, Mona. She may be contacted at pab.ja2009@gmail.com, or send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com