The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development plans to spend some $1.7 billion to construct and rehabilitate buildings to enhance health and education services across the country this year.
At a press conference at the ministry’s head office in Kingston yesterday, Minister Kellawan Lall said $390.7 million were earmarked for the construction and rehabilitation of health centres, health posts and health huts across the country this year.
This is an increase from the sums spent last year for the same purpose. The sum of $132.8 million was expended on the construction of four new health centres, rehabilitation of two health centres, and the rehabilitation of one hospital, and other health-care facilities such as nurses and doctors’ quarters and laboratories across the country.
The sum of $1.396 billion is earmarked for the construction and rehabilitation of schools in the administrative regions this year with emphasis on those in hinterland communities.
This is a significant increase from last year when the sum of $297.2 million was spent on construction, rehabilitation and extension of nursery, primary and secondary schools, teachers’ quarters and other educational facilities in the ten administrative regions.
Lall said the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Programme would be the ministry’s main focus in the implementation of infrastructural works to the new landfill site at Haag Bosch and the closure of the Mandela Land Fill site. The institutional strengthening component of the Caribbean Development Bank-funded Community Services Enhancement Programme (CSEP) will start this year; and more roads, bridges and other infrastructure will be built.
The institutional strengthening component of the CSEP will aid in upgrading the status of a number of communities across the country to secondary township status.
Major achievements under the CSEP – a grant and loan agreement signed in October 2005 – for last year, included the construction of a new $486.4 million stelling at Supenaam and rehabilitation of the Parika Stelling and the construction of a new administrative building at the stelling at a cost of $126.2 million. A new $148.2 million market was constructed at Bartica; and $463.9 million were spent on the construction and rehabilitation of drains and culverts at Parika. A total of $2.490 billion was expended on the projects mentioned among others under the CSEP.
Lall said that at the regional level the works programmes were fairly well executed last year, the regions having received a total capital budget of $1.604 billion and spent $1.589 billion; 99.24%.
In terms of current expenditure, he said, $11.030 billion was allocated to the regions. The sum of $10.971 billion or, 98.50% was expended.
At the level of the ministry, its capital allocation was $320 million and $318.5 was used; each Neighbourhood Democratic Council received a subvention of $3 million and the six municipalities were given a total of $65 million with Georgetown receiving $20 million of this.
The entire capital and current budgetary allocation for the ministry and the regions was $13.149 billion. The expenditure amounted to $12.960 billion or 98.56%.
Other achievements, he said, were in the preparation for the Cricket World Cup 2007 and the Rio Summit in which the ministry was involved in enhancement programmes in the city.
He noted that the demands on the municipalities were growing, but citizens’ response with regard to paying rates and taxes was not satisfactory.
He said the local government sector suffered a great deal this year and in recent years because of the absence of local government elections, which he hoped could be held this year.
Because of the absence of municipal and local government elections, he noted, interim management committees (IMC) were made to replace elected neighbourhood democratic councils in some nine to ten neighbourhoods and two town councils – Linden and Rose Hall.
Among the problems the IMCs face, he said, was a lack of commitment by some who were appointed, and a lack of respect in some communities as well.
Local government elections were last held in 1994. (Miranda La Rose)