The Devolution of Powers of BSB“Would the introduction of the Mayoral System

be the next best step for BSBs City Development?”

by

Abdul Malik Omar Presented this powerpoint as part of the requirement of the Paper Development Workshop organised by the

Brunei Postgraduate Society on the 10th September 2016. Attached is also the draft abstract submitted (see slide 22) for the event.

Aims and Objectives• Personal background.

• Raise awareness on the importance of cities in economic development.

• Showcase a glimpse of BSBs history, background, and governance.

• To analyse the strengths & weakness of the current governance of BSB with reference to case studies.

• To make a case for devolution.

• A case of for and against devolution by the means of introducing the Mayoral system of governance for BSB.

• Critically analyse the London Devolutionary Model of Governance and its implications to BSB’s devolutionary journey.

• Conclusion and limitations.

Personal background• MSc Candidate at the London School of Economics

taking the course MSc in Local Economic Development (2015/2016).

• Specialising in Economic Development, Cities, and Innovation.

• I got a Distinction for my GY407 Globalisation, Regional Development, & Policy with an essay topic entitled, “Devolution in the case of London for United Kingdom”.

• An Op-Ed columnist in Borneo Bulletin, Brunei’s national newspaper with topics focusing on economic development, cities, innovation. I also blog at amotimes.com.

• Always been and always will be a pro-business and pro-economic person.

Importance of Cities• The World Bank attributes that “80% of global growth” are

generated in cities (World Bank, 2015).

• Cities will rule the economy of the future, not nations (Storper, 2013). Contrast the case of Shanghai and Inner Mongolia.

• 57% of the world’s population lives in urban areas and is set to increase to 66% by 2050 (United Nations, 2014).

• Cities bring opportunities for young people to ‘live, work, & play’.

• It enables small nation-states to ‘punch above its weight in the world economy’ (e.g. such as Singapore, Luxembourg)

History of BSB• The birthplace of the Brunei polity with official history

stretching back to the first settlers in the 13th-14th century.

• Bandar Brunei as the heart of empire. Has Kota Batu and Kampong Ayer. Kota Batu, translated as ‘Stone Fortress’, were fortifications on top of a hill built by Sultan Sharif Ali with help from the Chinese community. It was equipped with canons and high walls to defend our territory.

• Brunei’s Kampong Ayer was then the Venice of the East. So strong was the commercial influence that the Padian system persisted up to the 20th century.

• When the British Empire made us her protectorate, Britain built up institutions in the city. The development intensified after the war with great vigour. Parliament (Lapau), administrative centre, schools, and many of these institutions were set up.

Background of BSB• BSB has the size of 100.36 Sq km. Over 320k of the 450k

population lives in the urban areas. That is 79.89% of the population up from 65.8% in 1990! (World Bank, 2016)

• In 2010 or even earlier, the ‘city in the garden concept’ initiative as set out in the BSB Masterplan 2035 was launched.

• Under the tenure of Pehin Dato Hj Adanan (former MoHa Minister), MoHas commissioned the HoK group to set up the visionary framework, which included Jones Lang LaSalle, Meinhardt, MVA and Brunei firm OWMP International in the team (Brunei Times, 2010).

• Current status (as of September 2016): Developments taking place include the active reallocation of Kampong Ayer residents, building up of the Temburong mega-bridge, & development of a recreational park next to Yayasan.

BSB Governance (1)• Managed by BSB municipal department. Heading the

department is the Chairman and the Board of Directors (made up of public sector and business leaders)

• Some of the most important actual and perceived function:

• To approve business license and permits to operate stalls or businesses in the city (may have changed by now with DARe)

• To make BSB a clean, safe, and pro-business environment (Brunei Times, 2014).

• Despite this, MoHa has de-facto authority to reverse or change the decisions made by BSB municipal department.

• Resources are channeled from MoHa every year.

BSB Governance (2)Strengths

• MoHa has de-facto authority over BSB Municipal Board to decide matters relating to the city.

• Quite effective in creating much needed, politically charged changes relating to the redevelopment of the city, i.e. reallocation of Kampong Ayer residents.

• Sometimes these decisions could be made overnight.

Weaknesses

• The Chairman and Board has little or direct accountability, transparency, and openness in regards to the decisions made that would affect the public.

• This makes it harder for the people (especially businesspeople) to raise their concerns pertaining the wrong decisions being made.

• The bureaucratic and multi-level cross departments makes it hard for BSB Municipal Board to make its own decisions without affecting other MoHa departments.

Case Studies

• Tamu Kiangeh, Pasar Gadong, Tungku Beach

• Study how the decisions made by BSB Municipal Board affect these entrepreneurs through their sudden decisions.

• Many questions to be asked:1. Were the people happy or dissatisfied? 2. How do the people appeal for changes? 3. How could they voice out their concerns? 4. How has the decisions affected their businesses?5. What could be improved?

Case for the devolution of powers for BSB?

• The paper shall study the effects of the devolution of BSB Municipal Board through the introduction of the Mayoral system of governance vis-a-vis the London Devolutionary Model.

• Using Donahue (1997) & Rodriguez-Pose & Gill (2002) framework, the paper shall analyse three facets of devolution namely legitimacy, authority, and resources.

• Devolution refers to the decentralisation of these facets

Devolved Governance of BSB: Questions

1. Legitimacy

• Appoint the Mayor by MoHa or by direct elections? What would the consequences be?

• Would it enhance accountability for the Mayor (Chairman) to do his duties well without fan or favour in the name of pursuing the development of the city for the greater good?

2. Authority

• What type of authorities (responsibilities) or power would the Mayor be given? Would he possess statutory or lobbying power only, or direct power to manage the affairs of the city?

• Consequently what type of authorities or responsibilities should BSB Municipal Department absorb or/and discard? Should it retain or discard its duties in cleaning; or should it secure direct power over certain divisions from the Ministerial body?

3. Resources

• How much resources should the BSB Municipality be allocated too? A certain fixed percentage of MoHa budget or something more flexible?

• Would there be independent third-party audits who can publicly publish the accounts of the expenditures and gains?

The case for & against devolution

For• Improved innovative and inclusive policy-

making

• Promotes a mixed bottom-up, top-down approach in governing the city

• Make office-holders more accountable to the public

• Reduce the burden of duties for MoHa

• Improved fiscal returns in public spending

• Increased legitimacy

• Reduce the wrong decisions being made

• Increase the efficiency for Brunei to produce jobs & economic growth

Against

• Decision stagnation because of endless negotiations with different parties with various different interests that may impede the realisation of the city’s objectives

• Rise of the wrong people elected into office.

• The fear of introducing elections due to the uncertainty it may introduce

• Potential reversal of policy because of the weak capacity for the institutionalisation of reforms. Upper management may change, and hence the idea may be discarded

• “Strategies of Waste”

London Devolutionary Model of Governance

• Problems faced by BSB as set out in the case study is minuscule to the problems faced by the United Kingdom in the 1990s

• Reforms were key to enhance London’s status as an international city, so needed to enable the United Kingdom to ‘punch above its weight in the global economy

• Tony Blair and the Labour party swept to power in 1997 & following a local referendum held on 7th May 1998, which resulted in a large ‘yes’ vote, the government passed the Greater London Authorities Act (1999).

• It resulted in the establishment of the Greater London Authority, the London Assembly and the Mayor of London.

• The Greater London Authorities Act has since been updated (2007)

Gauging the London Devolutionary Model of Governance over the years

Then (2000-2015)

1. Legitimacy

• Through elections. Firstly, won by independent candidate Ken Livingstone, (then Boris Johnson)

2. Authority

• At first he is given limited power. Except for lobbying abilities.

3. Resources

• Resources were almost controlled by the ruling government. If Ken did not listen, he could not get the resources.

Now (current)

1. Legitimacy

• Can be gauged by the increased voting participation of the people of London. Current Mayor is Sadiq Khan

2. Authority

• The lobbying power has since been increased. It is in tandem to the increased responsibilities it is given over key departments (Transport for London).

3. Resources

• The city now have certain powers to raise money through its directly controlled departments it has under its control, as well as from government.

Devolution of BSB through the London Devolutionary Framework

Potential solutions

1. Legitimacy

• Elect Mayors (Chairman) and through direct elections. The candidate with must have a strong manifesto to secure votes to win.

2. Authority

• To be given limited power or actual authority over other ministerial departments. But he must be given the power to lobby so as to shape public opinion on what key decisions should be taken by the government.

3. Resources

• Have MoHa control the entire resource, so that the Mayor would be bound to listen to upper management. Also avoids ‘strategies of waste’

Potential future results

1. Legitimacy

• More inclusive and active participation form the public to contest in the elections and to vote people whom they trust to govern the city. If they do not like him, simply kick him out and have him replaced by someone more competent.

2. Authority

• Only give more power once the Mayor’s loyalty to the nation-state and city is secured. Once then the Mayor can be given more executive authorities over city-related functions controlled by other ministries

3. Resources

• Raise revenues from its own subsidiaries or through taxes.

• Have its own separate budget allocated through the LegCo council

The case for & against devolution

For• Improved innovative and inclusive policy-

making

• Promotes a mixed bottom-up, top-down approach in governing the city

• Make office-holders more accountable to the public

• Reduce the burden of duties for MoHa

• Improved fiscal returns in public spending

• Increased legitimacy

• Reduce the wrong decisions being made

• Increase the efficiency for Brunei to produce jobs & economic growth

Against

• Decision stagnation because of endless negotiations with different parties with various different interests that may impede the realisation of the city’s objectives

• Rise of the wrong people elected into office.

• The fear of introducing elections due to the uncertainty it may introduce

• Potential reversal of policy because of the weak capacity for the institutionalisation of reforms. Upper management may change, and hence the idea may be discarded

• “Strategies of Waste”

Case Studies

• Tamu Kiangeh, Pasar Gadong, Tungku Beach

• Study how the decisions made by BSB Municipal Board affect these entrepreneurs through their sudden decisions.

• Leads to three questions:1. Are the people happy or dissatisfied? 2. How do the people appeal for changes? 3. How can they voice out their concerns? 4. How has the decisions affected their businesses?5. What can be improved?

Conclusion & Limitations• BSB is a key component in nation-building. Effective management of the city is vital in developing the nation-

state

• The case studies of Tamu Kianggeh, Pasar Gadong, & Tungku Beach shows how it is vital to improve the governance of the city

• Providing an alternative form of governance, which is through devolution of legitimacy, authority, and resources through the introduction of the Mayoral System vis-a-vis the London Devolutionary Model of Governance.

• Critically analysed the Mayoral System of Governance (based on the London model) as a potential solution to fix the city in its objectives to achieve development

• Study the London Devolutionary Model of Governance to BSB and its implications to the development of the city

• Limitations:

1. See if I can take a PhD so I can work on this study! Like to publish a paper though. Not sure how!

2. Not enough time or data (researched about this two days ago) leading to potentially generalisations of issues.

3. Areas that were not taken into account (but must!): The London Assembly and Greater London Authority.

4. Didn’t focus much on methodology

Would the introduction of the Mayoral System

be the next best step for BSBs City Development?

Thank you!

QUESTION TIME!

BibliographyAcademic references:• Donahue, J. D. (1997). Tiebout? Or not Tiebout? The market metaphor and America's devolution debate. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 11(4),

73-81.• Rodríguez-Pose, A., & Gill, N. (2002). The Global Trend Towards Devolution and Its Implications/. London School of Economics Department of

Geography and Environment.• Storper, M. (2013). Keys to the city: how economics, institutions, social interaction, and politics shape development. Princeton University Press.

Online references:• World Bank (2016) “Brunei’s Urbanisation Rate” http://www.tradingeconomics.com/brunei/urban-population-percent-of-total-wb-data.html • World Bank (2016) “Urban Development Overview” http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/overview• United Nations (2014) “World’s population increasingly urban with more than half living in urban areas” http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/

population/world-urbanization-prospects-2014.html

Articles:• Omar, A M. (2016) “Public buses as the centre of our transport nervous system”: http://borneobulletin.com.bn/public-buses-centre-transport-nervous-

system/ Published in August 2016.• Omar, A M. (2016) “Education an investment for national development”: http://borneobulletin.com.bn/education-investment-national-development/.

Published in July 2016.• Omar, A M. (2016) “Approaches to developing BSB.” http://borneobulletin.com.bn/approaches-to-developing-bsb/ Published in July 2016• Omar, A M. (2016) “A four-point solution to resolve Tungku Beach issue” http://borneobulletin.com.bn/a-four-point-solution-to-resolve-tungku-beach-

issue/• Omar, A M. (2016) “Revive Gadong night market to boost vendors, jobs” http://borneobulletin.com.bn/revive-gadong-night-market-boost-vendors-jobs/

Legislation• Greater London Authorities Act (1999) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/29/pdfs/ukpga_19990029_en.pdf • Greater London Authorities Act (2007) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/24/contents

Pictures:• From various notably from Brunei Times and Borneo Bulletin

AbstractThe Devolution of Powers of BSB City: Would the introduction of the Mayoral System be the next best step for BSBs City Development?

by Abdul Malik Omar, MSc in Local Economic Development Candidate at LSE (2015/2016)

Bandar Seri Begawan, or formerly known as Bandar Brunei, has been the birthplace and centrepiece of the Brunei polity. Since the first Sultan up to the modern day, the place has been and will continue to be a key point where the destiny of the nation-state and its holdings would be governed and determined. As a city, it also has the important objectives to secure the livelihood of the peoples of Brunei, as well as to act as a key component in economic development that would enable the nation-state to punch above its weight in the global economy. Today, BSB faces an increasingly complex environment in the pursuit of these goals. The growing problems reflected by the Tamu Kianggeh and Pasar Gadong issues recently, for instance, highlight- ed the need for decision- and policy-makers to improve the quality of governance in the city. This paper shall analyse and provide recommendations for an alternative form of governance by introducing the Mayoral system as that potential solution. Using Donahue's (1997), Andrés Rodríguez & Nick Gill’s (2003) works on devolutionary analysis, this paper shall study devolution of powers of BSB city through three key lenses, namely, (1) legitimacy, (2) authority, and (3) resources. The research questions are as follows: Would the mayoral system enhance the legitimacy of the BSB department and make it more accountable to the people it serves? What authorities (or responsibilities) shall the mayor and the department be entrusted to in managing BSB effectively? Finally, how much resources should be allocated to the mayoral office ever year to run its operations and how would the arrangements of these processes be like? The methodology would be a semi- structured interview of thirty people; fifteen participants from the BSB Municipal department and another fifteen from the general public. There is also a short case study of BSB itself to provide awareness on the city’s history and its importance to the Bruneian economy in the realisation of ‘Vision 2035’ and the ‘Gar- dens in the City’, as set out in the BSB Masterplan 2035 concept. Some of the potential findings and conclusions include how people may not be open to the idea of the mayoral system given the lack of understanding of how the inclusive form of governance actually works. Second, there is a fear of change inherent in the BSB municipal body given the past issues (Tamu Kiangeh, Tungku Beach, & Pasar Gadong) that make them to potentially refuse the idea of implementing the mayoral system. To augment these problems, I propose a solution based on the London devolutionary model, where the mayoral system was successfully introduced through a con- trolled, step-by-step experimentation process by the Labour Government with the passing of the Greater London Authority Act (1999). I will further elaborate the London devolutionary model in this paper.

Keywords: Cities. Devolution. Economic Development. BSB. Brunei. Inclusive Development. Governance. BSB Masterplan. Vision 2035. London. JES Classification: F63. P25. R38.