Trinidad and Tobago’s Parliament has approved legislation to expand municipal government. The bill proposes new boroughs and city status for Chaguanas.
Trinidad and Tobago’s House of Representatives has passed legislation to restructure the country’s municipal government system, with 27 members voting in favour, 11 opposing and none abstaining. The Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was passed on Oct. 7, according to reporting by 103.1FM and parliamentary records. The vote advances the government’s proposal to increase the number of municipal corporations from 14 to 17.
The bill proposes elevating Chaguanas to city status and establishing boroughs in Barataria, Couva and St. Augustine, while converting Sangre Grande’s regional corporation into a borough. The changes would alter the country’s existing local government structure and require related amendments to several laws governing elections, municipal administration and road traffic.
The government has presented the proposed changes as an effort to address differences in resource distribution and improve local representation as communities grow and develop. Municipal corporations are responsible for a range of local services, including roads, drainage, public spaces and markets, making their boundaries and administrative arrangements important to residents and businesses.
The legislation also includes consequential amendments to the Representation of the People Act, the Interpretation Act, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (Local Government and Tobago House of Assembly) Act, and the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Regulations. These changes are intended to align the relevant legal frameworks with the proposed municipal restructuring.
Passage in the House of Representatives does not, by itself, mean the proposed changes have become law. The bill must proceed through the remaining parliamentary stages and the applicable enactment process before the new municipal arrangements can take effect. Parliament’s published bill record lists the measure as having advanced through the House, while the Senate is scheduled to consider it at a sitting on Oct. 13.
Information from the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, 103.1FM and TTT News.