(Trinidad Guardian) Rural Development and Local Government Minister Faris Al- Rawi is looking forward to the increased scope of powers that regional corporations will soon possess to enable them to take stricter action against errant contractors who have contributed to the increased flooding across the country.
Speaking with reporters following an interfaith service hosted by the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation at the Success Laventille Secondary School, Morvant, as they celebrated their 30th anniversary yesterday, he quietly warned, “People that are blocking tributaries and riverines, etc, unauthorised developments, you are going to see a lot of action coming forward.”
Referring to the Miscellaneous Provisions (Local Government Reform) Bill which is intended to get more power into the hands of local government, the former attorney general said, “A lot of that is going to come out in the Local Government Reform as we vest assets into the corporations. They have the responsibility to take action.”
Confirming his ministry remained on alert yesterday as reports of flooding continued to flow in, Al- Rawi said, “Thank God spared us from worse.”
He urged the population to continue to take precautions and prepare during the rainy season.
And for those persons who have not adhered to approved building codes; and those who continue to dump their waste into drains and rivers indiscriminately, Al-Rawi added, “We are taking our enforcement action seriously.”
Al-Rawi, who delivered the feature address at the event, commended the corporation for the “very large footprint” it had managed to make on the local government landscape in its 30 years of operation.
He said regional corporations were meant to serve mankind, he pointed to the sweeping changes that local government reform would bring as yet another step in the journey to “be of greater service to mankind.”
Al-Rawi said as T&T cries out for security, for economic growth, and for prosperity, “Each and every municipal corporation will now have a responsibility very similar to that exercised by the THA.”
“How we take it from plan to operation is my task as the line minister with responsibility.”
To the corporation, he said, “You have served people with not enough resources at hand, and not enough commitment from the tax payers who are coming to you. But these are things that are going to be things of the past, and I want to say to you now that your brightest days are ahead of you.”
He told those present, “You will have the ability to hire, to fill critical positions in the corporation, collect your own revenue to allow you to serve the communities you represent, to work in tandem with the community policing environment, that you can have direct control over so that response time is better. So I wish to tell you, our best days are ahead of us.”
The service which was followed by a military parade from Morvant Junction to the Croissee, San Juan saw appreciative members of the public waving and clapping as the group of smartly dressed young and old service men and women marched along.