Trinidad & Tobago Association
of Local Government Authorities
a History of
Local Government
Local Government in Trinidad & Tobago has a long and involved history stemming from the time of Spanish colonization. In 1768 in St. Joseph, the Royal Cabildo was established. It was most closely defined as a Royal Municipal Council that held a wide array of power and influence. According to the Government Information Service (GIS), the Cabildo "appointed chief judges on the island, supervised markets, scavenged and repaired streets, controlled the police, the Royal Gaol (prison), the admission of physicians and surgeons, and levied duties and taxes on grog shops."
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The powers of the Cabildo were great and so it was inevitable that its powers would soon become restricted by the Colonial Government. In 1783, the last Spanish Governor of Trinidad and Tobago, Don Jose Maria Chacon began to limit the authority of the Cabildo and in 1784, he had the offices of the Cabildo moved from St. Joseph to Port of Spain. This power limitation was only the beginning of the denigration of the Cabildo's influence, as the British continued to limit the Cabildo once they gained possession of Trinidad in 1797, and began to transform the Cabildo into an English-style municipality. The GIS states that "Ordinance No. 6 of 1840 transformed the Cabildo into the Town Council of Port of Spain. The governor served as the President of the Town Council, with twelve members or Town Councillors, in what was a form of limited representative government."
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The transition from the early English-style municipality into its current form had its twists and turns. Port of Spain gained borough status (1853)
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through Ordinance No. 10, lost borough status due to money issues with the Central government (1899), attempted to regain borough status (1907-1914), and gained city status instead in 1914. During this time period, San Fernando was also formulating Local Government for its citizenry. San Fernando pushed through for a Town Council in 1846 and received borough status at the same time as Port of Spain with Ordinance No. 10 of 1853, though it became a city in 1989. Arima's Local Government was created in 1888 when it became the first and only Royal Borough in the Caribbean by Royal Charter of Queen Victoria.
The creation of the nine regional corporations and the other two boroughs truly took place in the 1940's with the passage of several amendments and ordinances that were recommended by two Committee Reports in the early 20th century. The Clifford Report of 1906 and the Royal Commission of 1938 both recommended the creation of district boards, as per the former, and county councils, as per the latter. County Councils were officially created in June of 1945 with Act No. 18 along with Act No. 18 of 1946. Tobago was given county status at that time and was represented by a council, as were the electoral districts in the main island.
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The type of local government that was created with those two Acts was a weak and powerless one because the councils were designed to act as advisors only to the colonial government in regards to, as stated on the GIS Website, "housing, land settlement, hospitals, school buildings, health, water, sanitation, roads, markets, pastures, abattoirs, cemeteries, police stations, public buildings, and social services."
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In 1952, Ordinance No. 39 gave executive power to the councils and became the local authorities for their electoral districts. The GIS explains that the county councils were authorised "to give financial and other assistance towards the establishment and encouragement of community, district, or village councils, and the erection of community centres and halls. Their responsibilities included local roads, cemeteries, recreation grounds and markets." The councils were designed to be comprised of elected officials, 2 aldermen and 1 councillor, from the electoral districts of each county with a chairman chairing the council.
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The Regional Corporations that we know today were created in a three-year period (1990-1992) with three Acts, first Act No. 21 (1990) and which was further amended by Acts No. 28 (1991) and No. 8 (1992). These acts replaced the county councils with Regional Corporations representing specific regions. The Tobago House of Assembly was re-established 10 years earlier in 1980 with Act No. 37 and it is responsible for all local government activity in the 7 parishes of Tobago.
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