HISTORY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
IN TRINIDAD &
TOBAGO
Newsday
Historical Digest
April 30, 2000
Pages 12 & 13
Local government in Trinidad has its origins in a very ancient
institution. The Illustrious Cabildo, a
municipal council created in Spain by the Crown after the expulsion of the
Moors, was founded in the island of Trinidad at San José de Oruna (St. Joseph)
in the year 1592.
Acting
on the orders of governor Don Antonio de Berrio, the master of the camp Don
Domingo de Vera y Bargoen, with a company of 30 men, made the beginnings of a
permanent settlement.
After
landing at Mucurapo, where they raised the cross and unfurled the flag of Spain
they proceeded to declare the island the property of His Most Catholic
Majesty. The Spaniards and their
actions were properly ignored by the real 'owners' of the island, the
Amerindians, as they went about their necessities. They proceeded up the Caroni until they came to an open savannah,
and reaching higher land they obtained from the cacique Guanaguanare a site that
they named San José de Oruna.
Here
at St. Joseph in the latter part of May 1592 a site for a church, Nuestra Sante
Fé de la Concepcion, was laid out and the first mass was celebrated most likely
on the same spot where the present church is now.
Don
Domingo then selected sites for the governor's 'palace', the Cabildo and the
prison. These were all situated around
the open space west of the church, a space that is now occupied by buildings
erected since the capitulation to the British in 1797.
K.
S. Wise writes in his 'Historical Sketches':
"All
the Spaniards present then took part in the formal election of the members of
the Cabildo, and the Illustrious body was duly constituted in Trinidad for the
first time as follows:
Alcaldes
Ordinario:
Alvaro Jorge, Diego Diaz de Acevedo;
Alguacil
Mayor: José
Nunez Brito;
Procurador
General:
Antonio Pinto Leal;
Regidores: Juan Marquez, Felipe de
Santiago, Juan Mexia de Prado, José Nunez Brito, Alonso de Medina, Juan
Gomes."
Many
of these names are still with us. Thus,
more than 400 years ago, commenced the local government in Trinidad, which
remained in place unchanged from the administration of the island by Sir Ralph
Abercromby (1813 - 1829) to Lord Harris (1845 - 1854). The British administrative system was by
then in conflict with the powers and privileges of the Illustrious Cabildo.
"The
changing composition of the general population and the diminishing population
of those to whom the methods of the Spanish administration were familiar, led
in 1840 in Port of Spain and in 1845 in San Fernando to the introduction of
measures of local government more in consonance with British practice."
(K.S. Wise)
For
almost fifty years after the conquest by the British, Trinidad possessed a
Spanish legal system through it governing body, and this on an island where 95%
of the population was French and Patois-speaking!
The
Illustrious Cabildo had the right to address the king of Spain and, because of
their oath of allegiance to Britain, to 'the Monarch' through the
Governor. However, the Cabildo had to
obey the orders of the Governor, even if his actions were against their will,
until 'the pleasure of His Majesty might be notified.'
The
role of the local governance body was more administrative than legislative. The Cabildo could not make laws for the
public, rather, it had an advisory role on municipal matters to the Governor.
In Spanish
times, public funds were kept in an actual 'treasure chest'. Only three people had a key to this chest:
the Alcalde of the First Election, the Escribano and the Depositor General.
The
members had certain privileges. They wore
a special uniform and insignia, were exempt from duties in the militia and
could not be put in the 'common gaol', only in their own house or a Cabildo building. The Escribano had to take sworn declarations
in their own house, since they could not be cited before a judge. The privileges even included preferential
choice in the public markets!
On the
other hand, the Cabildo had certain duties.
Ironically, they had to swear in the Governor who was to be their
superior afterwards, and all other public servants. Approval had to be sought from the Cabildo by physicians,
surgeons and apothecaries. They financed
a physician for the poor and a schoolmaster for poor persons' children. The Cabildo also administered funds to
prevent epidemics, as well as to help out people in case of 'public calamity'.