Plans are being put in place to establish a Legal Support Department and an Internal Audit Department at the Ministry of Local Government, Permanent Secretary Collin Croal said yesterday.
Croal was addressing reporters at a press conference to among other things update the media on the Ministry’s plans for the rest of the year.
He said that the ministry is at the moment running advertisements in the newspaper for two legal officers who will be posted at the ministry’s office. Approval, he said, was received for the advertisement. He added that the officers are expected to not only serve the ministry but would also lend assistance to the Regional Democratic Councils and the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils. He said that this Legal Support Department would ensure that the Ministry brings some legitimacy to a number of areas including NDC issues, illegal constructions, land issues, as well as taking contractors to court to recover monies as a result of overpayment. The overpayment problem has been highlighted in recent reports of the Office of the Auditor General.
“We are expecting at the ministry level to have greater efficiency in dealing with a number of matters on the ground”, he stressed.
Croal continued that the ministry has also received approval for the setting up of an Internal Audit Department and currently the ministry is in discussions with the Office of the Auditor General and the Ministry of Finance as to the setting up of this department and its staffing.
Though it will be located at the Ministry’s Kingston location, he said, that the department will also have responsibility for the regions.
