How important is the development of local government to Guyanas future?
VA: It is very critical as a path forward, because a lot of our problems ethnic or otherwise have to do with this high centralisation of power. I think we have a good local government system but I think we need to be very clear about the administration of power through the various levels from the central down to the village. We may be able to create a situation where we find what regions and villages can do and we don’t have this interference; that people can feel comfortable in their villages determining their development. Of course we need to define who should do what but not on the basis of power but more efficiency. We also have to make sure the resources are available and that they are not distributed on the whim of the central government but rather on the needs of the various bodies. Also what is the capacity to do certain work? What is the level of poverty? These are factors in determining how much is allocated very objectively to those local areas. If this is done it will help
