There is a long tradition of local government in Jamaica stretching back to the vestry system of 1663. There are 12 Parishes in Jamaica and one municipal corporation (Kingston and St Andrews). In 2003 the Municipalities Act brought about the creation of the Portmore Municipal Corporation within the Parish of St Catherine as a second tier local government. Parish Councils are responsible for the execution of national policy at the local level predominantly in the fields of poor relief, public works, and economic development. Councils are elected every three years most recently in 2007. New elections officially planned for 2010 were postponed to take place in late 2011. Below the parish level are the localities ranging from cities, towns and villages. Although there are over a 100 local entities local authority is centralized at the parish level. A division in 228 constituencies provides for the basis on which parish councils are elected. The two biggest cities of Kingston and St Andrews have amalgamated to form a corporation (KSAC) to improve service delivery and efficiency. Local government authorities are in general responsible for public health, sanitation, poverty relief, water supply, minor roads, markets and fire services.
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Since the early nineties Jamaica has been undergoing a programme of local government reform to increase devolution of central government functions to the local level. With the ministry paper 8/93 local authorities received more autonomy in respect to financial management and the levying of taxes. In 2003 further legislation was passed to support local authorities creating the municipality of Portmore. The Municipalities Acts empowered the inhabitants to elect their own mayor and gave the municipality the power to arrange most of its local affairs. The Portmore municipality is seen as a first step towards further municipalisation throughout Jamaica. However no further legislative reforms have been undertaken to extend municipal status to other local authorities.
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The Local Government Reform Programme, started in 1993, has been extended several times most recently in 2009 in order to provide more autonomy, resources, and greater responsibility to local authorities on the island. Also, in the wake of the 2003 Portmore Municipality Act a National Advisory Council was established to evaluate the current status of local government and develop it for the future.
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