Economy of Scotts Head Village

coordinate development activities in the community. This coordination is necessary in order to avoid duplication of projects undertaken by the organizations in the community and as the name suggests, they coordinate development activities in the community. Coordinating committees also provide a forum through which Councils undertake planning activities for the community.

Councils, in spite of their special status, are not able to respond to all the development challenges of their communities on their own. They need to work together with other community-based groups and organizations. In so doing, each organization is able to complement each other’s resources and expertise. The Councils, being able to harness resources from central Government agencies, and regulate undesirable activities in the communities, are capable, as the principal governmental organization in the community, to give some direction to the development of the community. The other organizations, with their ability to access funding from Non Government Organizations and to attract voluntary community support for development projects, are well placed as partners in the local development process.

This arrangement does not by any means comprise the primary and essential authority of the Council. In fact where Council have adopted this approach effectively they have been able to cultivate the level of respect and confidence expected from the community as a whole. This approach to local development management is necessary if the principle of popular participation is to be maintained as part of the system of Local Government.

In Dominica, Local Government is a creature of Central Government. None of the Councils – municipal, Village of Carib- are fully autonomous for they derive their authority and responsibilities from the Central Government. It is Central Government and the Parliament which