Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud has emphasized that Community Development Councils (CDCs) are voluntary organisations operating within communities and are not part of the budgetary framework of individual regions.

This statement came in response to a question posed to the minister during Thursday’s sitting of the National Assembly by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP), Vanessa Kissoon.
Kissoon questioned why monies for CDCs do not go to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) for payment to the councils. However, the minister stressed that the question was not one that can be answered by the regional administrations since the councils are voluntary entities for which there are very explicit guidelines in the constitution.
The APNU MP also questioned the role of the Director of the CDC, and Persaud explained that this is, as stated in the ministry guidelines, to coordinate the efforts of community groups, to establish community development groups and councils, and to provide the necessary guidance to ensure that the councils operate and function within the guidelines documented in the constitution.
In addition, Kissoon asked why staff of the CDCs has to travel from Linden to Georgetown to uplift cheques. However, Persaud pointed out that when projects are approved by the CDC secretariat, the volunteer members of those CDCs would have to travel to the city in order to complete the necessary paperwork.
“I am not aware that we have staff at the level of the CDC, we have volunteers who own positions within those councils and the holders of such positions are elected by the community,” he advised.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman further asked of the minister whether this travelling cost is borne by the CDC member, to which he responded that such costs are catered for in the approval of the project itself.
In addition, APNU MP, Debra Backer asked the minister to provide members of the National Assembly with the guidelines governing the operations of CDCs, and the name, salary and benefits of the Director of the CDC, which he promised to deliver before the next sitting.