Minister orders audit for Aranputa/Upper Burro Burro NDC

─ councillors to benefit from several training programmes
Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall has instructed that the
operations of the Aranaputa/Upper Burro Burro Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC),
Region Nine, be audited to ensure accountability and transparency.
The minister gave the directive after reviewing the local organ’s 2021 work programme and the
concerns raised by councillors about the council’s progress. He registered his dissatisfaction with
their way of crafting a comprehensive plan to benefit the local organ as opposed to the
constituencies it oversees. Dharamlall said that the local organ’s plans to use its subvention to
purchase chairs for events and construct a fence for the NDC, does not highlight the needs of the
people at this time.  “I think that you are doing a disservice to the people of Aranaputa NDC, if
you are going to use the monies provided to you for projects that seem to only benefit the council
and not the people. How do the people of Aranaputa benefit from this? As a government, we
need to do better to improve the lives of our people in every way,” the local government minister
said.
Dharamlall stressed that the council’s perspective needs to change thus using the government’s
resources in a meaningful way. He said this is whether it is consulting with residents about their
needs, or crafting programmes to increase revenue.
He said that at present, three tractors being managed by the council are in need of repairs at the
cost of over $1.3 M, which the minister noted should be addressed instead. “Our government has
no intention to dictate the workings of any NDC, but we cannot allow for this kind of thinking to
continue that essentially plays an obstacle to progress and development here. The people of
Aranaputa deserve better and we need to do better,” he stressed.
Issues including the lack of cooperation, consistent absence of staff and limited interaction with
residents were also highlighted. To this end, the local government and regional development
minister announced that councillors will benefit from various training programmes to provide
them with a better understanding of their roles in order to develop the communities under their
purview. He added that part of the training will be undertaken by the Regional Democratic
Council (RDC).