OFFICIALS from the Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) are being targeted via a series of workshops, aimed at informing them of new procedures and regulations following the recent passage of three Local Government Bills.

Addressing more than two dozen councillors from Wakenaam and the neighbouring island of Leguan, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud urged them to be information officers. “Share your knowledge with others, answer their questions as best as you can,” he urged. Community leaders were instructed to remember their duty to raise civic consciousness amongst residents by interacting with, and listening to their concerns,” he exhorted
Persaud said it is the duty of his Ministry to bring onboard all stakeholders and inform them of new procedures and revised measures to inform the various community residents. The workshop looked at the new laws governing local government elections, defining new constituencies, the need for eligible persons to vote, voter’s rights and responsibilities, submission processes for candidate lists for positions of councillors, qualifications for those to be elected and some of the requirements for persons contesting for posts in the RDCs and NDCs.
He shed some insight into the three bills recently assented to by President Ramotar; the Local Government Commission Bill No. 13/2012 which seeks to establish the Local Government Commission, as catered for by Article 78A of the Constitution, to provide for the Commission’s functions and procedure, and for connected and incidental purposes; the Fiscal Transfers Bill 2012, which seeks to enhance the autonomy of local authorities in Guyana, and assist in their quest to become financially viable, and the

Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2012, which seeks to amend the Municipal and District Council’s Act, Chapter 28:01 so as to revise the provision for municipal councils and 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.
It was noted that Guyana was previously divided into seven geographical areas or districts, each headed by a District Commissioner. This was altered when the constitution and the districts changed to allow for 10 administrative regions, a situation which now obtains. The laws were not amended to reflect that in each region, the person performing as accounting officer or District Commissioner is the Regional Executive Officer (REO) said the minister, and “we sought to bring the law in keeping with that.”
This recently saw the opposition majority on the Special Select Committee voting to overturn this and remove the REO from the legislation, Ganga said: “It means money from our parliament is voted and approved, from there it goes to our regional accounting system, then it goes to our NDCs, so those are the reasons why the fourth bill has not come into being as yet.”
The workshop sessions were jointly facilitated by the minister and the Permanent Secretary Collin Croal. The latter reminded stakeholders of the need to vote and have a say in the development of their communities. “Remember if you want to make a difference you have to vote.” Croal stressed.
The local government workshops are being conducted in all of the regions. The next sessions will be held in Greenwich Park and Vreed-en-Hoop over the next two days. The first workshop was conducted in Region 7(Cuyuni/Mazaruni).
Meanwhile, the minister and his team of officials took the time to visit the refurbished Wakenaam Rest House, the community centre and a critically needed concrete farm access bridge at Palmyra on the Island. (GINA)