Region 4 RDC urged to consult constituency on projects

The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has called on the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC) to consult with their constituency on projects and to serve them with integrity.

Minister Hon. Nigel Dharamlall delivered this charge during a meeting with the Councillors in the RDC’s Boardroom on Thursday. Minister within the Ministry Hon. Anand Persaud also attended the meeting.

“There are issues in Region Four which I believe that we can overcome and from what I heard, there are issues relating to communication, misunderstanding of roles among different individuals. I hope that this afternoon we have been able to clarify what those roles are and who are the people accountable for those roles,” the Minister said.

He also said the resources provided to the Region needs to be used sensibly to cover a wider base.  To accomplish this, Councillors must consult the citizens to prioritise work.

The Minister also disagreed that the RDC needed more staff.

“The number of staff does not increase your efficiency or effectiveness so that is a moot point until you can show the effectiveness and efficiency of your Department. Your efficiency is based on your ability and capability to do your work not the number of people,” he said.

To this end, Minister Dharamlall advised the RDC’s public works team to partner with the Ministry’s engineering service unit to fast-track their work.

He added that the Ministry will not process the Region’s 2021 budget without residents’ input.

“No longer will projects come to us without verification. We have to know that residents are committed to projects provided… You will need to work with the citizens to make sure these are the priorities they desire and then work with the administration to prioritise them,” he explained.

Concerning the administration’s 814 open bids for works, he instructed the evaluation team to meet more often, especially over this weekend, and to close them by Monday.

This will not only create more jobs, but will advance their work programme. Minister Dharamlall noted that the Region has only completed 26.6 per cent of its work programme.