Opinion

Empower citizens to solve their own problems

January 05, 2018
Empower citizens to solve their own problems

Muhammad Al-Baladi



Madinah newspaper

A reader contacted me say that he took a proposal I recently made, added his own ideas and presented it to his local municipality as a solution to a chronic problem his city suffers from. The reader said that unlike his previous proposals, the municipality responded to his suggestion and even implemented it, but took all the credit!

Without going into the details of the reader’s problem, I believe that it is important for citizens to be involved in solving administrative issues that affect them personally. This is because our local communities have become more mature and have developed a culture of responsibility that enables them to make serious contributions to development.

This type of interaction between members of the community and municipal administrators is not new and, in fact, takes place in cities and municipalities around the world. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to successful public engagement is the rigid mindset that many public officials have. Such officials hold the view that accepting public participation and solutions means that they are indirectly admitting to shortcomings within their organizational leadership. As a result, they are reluctant to involve citizens in their strategies. Even if they accept some suggestions, they do so reluctantly and mostly without reference to the person who made the suggestion.

There is a cultural difference between a Western administrative official and his Arab counterpart that is based on how each views his fellow citizens. The Westerner sees his constituents as the reason for his success and is thus interactive, direct and helpful. Regardless of his position or title, he is humble and welcomes his constituents and their suggestions. Often times, his Arab counterpart is arrogant and mostly unavailable, leaving citizens to deal with assistants and advisers who work mostly to increase the complexity and ambiguity of things.

All the agencies concerned with providing basic services to citizens, such as housing, health and education, must be more transparent and must be open to participation with citizens, many of whom have developed a great degree of knowledge and awareness, making them ideal candidates for providing the government with solutions to their everyday problems.


January 05, 2018
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