The Government of Jamaica introduced the Local Government Reform Program in 1990, with an expressed commitment to reform local government by strengthening local authorities and improving governance processes at the parish level. The program was detailed in a Ministry Policy Paper (No: 8/93) and later Ministry Paper (No: 7/03).This paper is aimed at examining how governance is conducted at the parish levels amidst broader efforts of the Local Government Reform Programme (LGRP). The paper will confine itself to one of the governance mechanism operating at parish level- the Parish Development Committee (PDC). The proposed PDC is a multi-stakeholder; inter-agency system (comprising local authorities with other state agencies, the private sector, civil society, national utility service providers, and community based organizations) established in all parishes across the country. The PDC structure has been singled out for focus because it represents one of the key mechanisms through which ideas about good governance and improved local governance promulgated in Local Government Reform Program could be enhanced. This paper will examine the proposed PDC structure, terms of reference, operations, achievements to date, relations with existing governance structure, challenges experienced and advance recommendation for how the PDC model can be consolidated and used to improve quality governance and development at the parish levels. In so doing, the PDC’s of Manchester will be used as a case study.

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