ABSTRACT
When transplanting systems, processes or institutions from one country to another, factors such as the culture of the society, the composition of that society or even the stage of development of the particular country are often not taken sufficiently into account. To a large extent, then, while such systems, processes or institutions may have achieved successful outcomes in a host country, a similar measure of success may be difficult to achieve in a transplanted society. The system of local government in the case of Trinidad and Tobago has not been reformed since the 1960s when the country attained independent status. Small island developing states such as Trinidad and Tobago are referred to as ‘vulnerable’ since they are exposed to the larger global economic shocks as well as to environmental and social challenges, such as natural disasters, climate change, limited economic opportunities, weak governance structures and outward migration of skilled staff. Current key themes of local governance – the greater democratisation of the society, the empowerment of communities, the enhancement of leadership capacity as well as affording a voice to the population, its success or failure – may have very little correlation to such vulnerable ‘risk’ factors. Rather, in the case of Trinidad and Tobago, the primary factor that appears to have prevented the respective governments from achieving the objective of wider citizen participation may be attributed to the ethnic fragmentation between the two majority racial groups, the African-descended and the Indo-descended population. This has led to polarisation of the two major political parties along lines of race but has also contributed to fragmentation within the wider population. The system of local government and the conceptual basis of this system, as a result, have been severely challenged.
