Insufficient funds given for Local Government

EVERY year, Government is allocating less and less funds to Local Government, according to Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma in his response to last Friday’s Budget presentation in the House of Representatives by Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Sharma stated more funds needed to be allocated to the country’s Local Government sector, “because the intention of the Local Government is to make sure value is created to the society at large.” “Local Government plays an important role and it seems as though the Government is moving away from its ability to deliver,” he said. He added that this year’s Budget, was a failure for all Local Government bodies throughout the country and that absolutely nothing significant was done to enable them to rise to the occasion of funding for communities across the country.

“The Local Government is responsible for making provisions for pipe borne water, street lighting, drainage, and other activities. So when Government does not provide sufficient funds, how can Local Government deal efficiently with issues within the communities including the rural areas?” Sharma claimed there was too much politics involved and suggested that Government needed to seriously bypass politics and focus on betterment for all, seeing that they represent all citizens whether supporters of the Opposition UNC or the ruling PNM. He also claimed that 95 percent of the country’s regional corporations were not being maintained properly and as a result, no development was taking place.