Dear Editor,
SOMETHING has to be considerably wrong, which is preventing the Government from appointing and commencing the operations of the Local Government Commission (LGC). Several weeks ago, the opposition named their commissioners who are ready and raring to go, but the government continues to delay the process of announcing and appointing theirs and the question is, why?
The Guyanese public was assured that the government had as one of its priorities, the setting up of the LGC; in fact, the impression given was that the commission would have been set up even before the local government elections were held.
But this was not to be. The authority and independence of local democratic organs which include the nine municipalities and 65 neighbourhood democratic councils cannot be guaranteed without this commission. An important aspect of the commission is that it shall have power to deal with all matters relating to the regulation and staffing of local government organs, including employment and dismissal of staff and with dispute resolution within and between local government organs.
It could not be more needed now to deal with the wayward and corrupt officers in the Georgetown municipality that are arrogantly corrupt, narcissistic and inept. I think the real problem is that the commission, once established, will take over most of the current oversight role exercised by the Ministry of Communities. The ministry, therefore, will no longer have the ability to degrade the capacity of local government organs which will now be able to exercise executive authority in keeping with the autonomy guaranteed by the constitution, and therefore the minister is in no hurry to relinquish this power and authority.
In fact, the commission will oversee not only municipalities and NDCs, but also Regional Democratic Councils as well as Amerindian villages, and therefore we need it commissioned without any further delay.
Best regards
Riley Matthews