Local Government in Trinidad is handled through 5 municipalities and 9 Regional Corporations. The earliest form of local government was the Royal Cabildo established in 1768 which had wide powers but was replaced by other forms over time. Currently there are 14 regional corporations with responsibilities like conveying central government policy, monitoring finances, issuing regulations, and coordinating municipal services. The document outlines the history and evolution of local governments in key cities like Port of Spain, San Fernando, and Arima from the Spanish colonial era to the present day system.

1. Local Government Of
Trinidad
Done By : Radha Sookram, Vanna Seusaran, Angelica Lazarus Rayn
Cooper, Rheana Tai Kong, Simran Larrah, Shaniah Badaloo, Keegan
Maikoo, Nicholas Ramdath, Sharmila Mansingh, Kimberly Parey,
Beshanna Bhoodram & Japheth Arjoon

2. What is a Local Government?
• An administrative body for a small geographic area,
such as a city, town, county, or state. A local
government will typically only have control over
their specific geographical region, and can not pass or
enforce laws that will affect a wider area. Local
governments can elect officials, enact taxes, and do
many other things that a national government would
do, just on a smaller scale.

3. History of the Local Government
of Trinidad
• The earliest type of municipality in Trinidad was the Royal
Cabildo, which was established in St. Joseph in 1768 by Spanish
colonists. The Cabildo exercised wide executive powers,
performing a wide range of functions. The Cabildo appointed
chief judges on the island, supervised markets, scavenged and
repaired streets, controlled the police, the Royal Goal, the
admission of physicians and surgeons, and levied duties and
taxes on grog shops. The Cabildo's operations were much
broader in scope that the municipal corporation today. The
taxpayers elected the members of the Cabildo annually.
• The last Spanish governor of Trinidad, Don Jose Maria Chacon,
took office as Governor in 1783. He immediately set about
restructuring the Cabildo by limiting its great power. Chacon
ordered the Cabildo to be relocated from St. Joseph to Port of
Spain in 1784.

4. Cabildo, (Spanish: “municipal council”), the
fundamental unit of local government in colonial
Spanish America.

5. In Trinidad there is a division of corporations
that form the local government. There are 14
in all, subdivided into localities each
represented by an elected councilor. The
councilor in each Municipality select
Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Chairmen and Vice
Chairmen as necessary

6. Local Government in Trinidad
• Arima Borough Corporation
• Chaguanas Borough Corporation
• Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation
• Diego Martin Regional Corporation
• Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation
• Penal/Debe Regional Corporation
• Point Fortin Borough Corporation
• Port of Spain City Corporation
• Princes Town Regional Corporation
• San Fernando City Corporation
• Sangre Grande Regional Corporation
• San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation
• Siparia Regional Corporation
• Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation

7. City, Borough, regional Corporations
:Fourteen Municipal Corporations
2 City Corporations
• Port-of-Spain City Corporation
• San Fernando City Corporation
3 Borough Corporations
• Arima Borough Corporation
• Chaguanas Borough Corporation
• Point Fortin Borough Corporation
9 Regional Corporation
• Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation
• Diego Martin Regional Corporation
• Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation
• Penal/Debe Regional Corporation
• Princes Town Regional Corporation
• San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation
• Sangre Grande Regional Corporation
• Siparia Regional Corporation
• Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation

8. Local Government in Trinidad is
handled through 5 municipalities
and 9 Regional Corporations in
Trinidad.

9. Municipality-status towns
The five towns with municipality-status are:
• The Borough of Arima
• The Borough of Chaguanas
• The City of Port-of-Spain
• The Borough of Point Fortin
• The City of San Fernando

10. Tunapuna-Piarco Regional Corporation: It is the
largest by population of all the Regional
Corporations The Tunapuna-Piarco Regional
Corporation is headquartered in Tunapuna. Other
towns include Arouca, Blanchisseuse, Curepe, St.
Augustine, Trincity, and Piarco.

11. Regional Corporations in Trinidad

12. Port of Spain
• When Trinidad changed hands from Spanish to British rule in 1797, the
Cabildo's powers were further limited as the new authorities attempted
to change it into an English-type municipality. Ordinance No. 6 of 1840
transformed the Cabildo into the Town Council of Port of Spain. The
governor served as the President of Town Council, with twelve
members or Town Councilors, in what was a form of limited
representative government.
• The Town Council, owing to the rapid development of Port of Spain,
soon outlasted its usefulness. In 1853, Municipal Corporations
Ordinance No. 10 of 1853, established the Borough Council of Port of
Spain. Dr. Louis DeVerteuil became the first mayor. However, owing to
repeated quarrels with the central government over money, the British
government revoked borough status, effective 1st January 1899, leaving
Port of Spain in the hands of commissioners. A Town Board took over
from the commissioners from 1907 to 1914, when the battle to reinstate
borough status ended with Ordinance No. 24 of 1914, conferring the
loftier status of city on Port of Spain.

13. San Fernando
• For San Fernando, the abolition of the Cabildo in 1840 and the
creation of a Town Council in Port of Spain, gave the people
of San Fernando the impetus to press for a similar authority. In
1846 San Fernando had a Town Council, with Dr. Robert
Johnstone as its first president. San Fernando gained borough
status in 1853 by the same ordinance which created the Port of
Spain Borough Council. Dr. Johnstone was elected San
Fernando's first mayor in elections on 3rd November of that
same year. San Fernando became a city on 18th November
1989.

14. Arima
• Arima became a borough by Royal Charter in 1888.
Queen Victoria granted the Royal Charter, making
Arima the first - and only - Royal Borough in the
Caribbean. British governor Sir William Robinson
did the presentation.

15. Apart from Port of Spain, San Fernando and Arima, only Point
Fortin and Chaguanas have been elevated to borough status over
the years: Point Fortin by Act No. 12 of 1980, and Chaguanas by Act
No. 21 of 1990.

16. Presently there are 14 regional corporations in
Trinidad. The Tobago House of Assembly is responsible
for all local government activities on the sister isle.
Previously, local government was administered by a
system of county council which came into effect in
1945. This system can be traced back to the
recommendations of two commissions of inquiry early
in the 20th century.

17. Roles and responsibilities of Local
Government
• Convey the policy perspectives and guidelines of
central government
• Monitor the finances and expenditure
• Render expert advice
• Issue guidelines on administrative and statutory
regulations
• Supervise the execution of projects and programmes
• Coordinate the activities of municipal corporations in
order to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of
services in a timely manner and also balanced growth
development.
• Act as an adjudicator in cases of disputes between
municipal corporations

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19. Thank You For Your Undivided
Attention
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