HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon said yesterday that local government elections will have to be addressed vigorously and maintained high on the agenda.

According to him, since the last holding of local government elections in 1994, the efficiencies in management of the local government system has worsened and created havoc at the level of the communities.
He added that there have been problems arising, due to the not holding of elections but the current Administration has shown its resolve to “aggressively” handle them.
Luncheon made the remarks at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing at Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.
He said, while the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has made changes to make the local government system more efficient, the obvious consequences have been a heightened focus on the delivery of public goods and services.
“Unfortunately, this has been matched by the community protests, but, all in all, they have surfaced those protests and they have been the basis of justification for the interventions that have been made by the Administration in dealing with the issues,” the HPS remarked.
He said: “There must be some reflection about the fascination of some, whether activists or politicians, with symptoms and reactions to those. I think it is the Administration’s contentions that, notwithstanding this attraction to symptoms and disorders at the local government level, a focus has to be maintained on the definitive intervention, local government elections and the correction that comes from current and active representation of communities.”

Two bills
Meanwhile, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Ganga Persaud last month tabled the final two bills that will pave the way for the holding of the long awaited elections.
The Fiscal Transfers Bill 2012 seeks to give effect to Article 77 (A) of the Constitution. Its ultimate aim is to make the local authorities as autonomous as possible and includes their ability to sustain themselves financially.
Under the present financial dispensation, the revenue sustaining the local authorities comes from rates and taxes collected.
The other piece of legislation, which is the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2012, would revise the provisions pertaining to municipal councils. During the course of this revision, no distinction is made between individual councils and town.
The bill would also update various fines, fees and charges in order to make them meaningful in view of current currency values and present day market prices for goods and services.
These two bills were being tabled and sent to the same Special Select Committee to which the other two Local Government Bills were referred in July. Those were the Local Government (Amendment) Bill and the Local Government Commission Bill.
The main thrust of the Local Government (Amendment) Bill is to include Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) in the local government system, while making consequential amendments and increasing penalties in a number of areas.
The Local Government Commission Bill deals with all matters relating to the regulation and staffing of local government organs and disputes resolution within and between local government organs.