Reforms for Local Govt coming

LOCAL GOVERNMENT will be experiencing challenging times in the years ahead, according to Jarette Narine, Minister of Local Government. Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony at the Couva/ Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation on Tuesday, the Minister said that the Government would be reviewing the Local Government Act and as such “we would be expecting the full co-operation of all Corp-orations in this exercise before the final Bill is laid in Parliament. “We are not there as yet but we are getting there,” he added. Speaking to the newly elected members of the Corporation, the Minister said that he was “ready and committed” to work alongside them and give every assistance to make the Corporation and their tenure of office a very successful one.

He admitted that “considering the landmark and size of your Corpora-tion, you have done very well, and for the future, I also wish you very well.” The Minister said that he himself was a County Councillor for eight years and from his experience, he was pleased to state publicly that “our system is unique.” He told the gathering that there woud be reforms in the Local Government framework of the country and the final Bill would be laid in Parliament shortly. Narine said that there were many “perceptions of Local Government and we are attempting to arrive at proposals that would be most acceptable to the population.” The Minister said that Government would continue to give allocations to Corporations who must continue their programme of work on a priority basis. He stressed that allocation of funds was done equitably across the board in the country and even though expressing much confidence in the new  CEO, he advised Councils to “manage funds and money properly as it was not an easy thing to do.” Narine congratulated the last Chairman, Councillor Ranjit Ramnarine, for managing the affairs of the Corporation from July last year to July this year without a Council.