Newly-established Local Govt Commission commences work

…Mortimer Mingo elected Chairman, Andrew Garnett deputy

The newly-appointed Local Government Commissioners met for the first time on Tuesday and unanimously elected former Chairman of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), Mortimer Mingo, as Chairman and union leader Andrew Garnett as deputy chair. The Local Government Commission (LGC) is now set for the execution of its constitutionally-mandated functions.

Just over a week ago, President David Granger swore in the first set of Commissioners for the Commission according to the Local Government Commission Act.
Guyana’s first-ever Local Government Commissioners to oversee Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and municipalities are Mingo; Garnett; former Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Chairman, Clement Corlette; senior executive of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Marlon Williams; educator Joan Ann Romascindo; former Town Clerk of Georgetown, Carol Sooba, and former Government Ministers Norman Whittaker and Clinton Collymore.
On Wednesday, Mingo said that the first task of the Commission was to identify a suitable location for the establishment of its office. In addition, the Chairman said that they were in the process of working out their budget, since the national budget was to be presented in the National Assembly later this month.
“The first task of the Commission is to identify a suitable premises in which we are going to conduct our business. We are close into the budget cycle and we are required by the law to submit our budget to the Minister of Finance to have those estimates included in the budgetary estimates of Guyana, which would be laid over in Parliament during the budgetary debate for approval,” he said.
He added that the Commission would be meeting again on Friday to further deliberate on the effective functioning of the constitutional body while addressing other issues such as staffing and the approval of a seal. He said that they were hoping to conclude those activities before the end of the year so that they would be in a better position to address the issues that they would encounter.
“No issues have been brought to the Commission as yet, and we are not going to go out there seeking for issues; once the issues are brought to us, we would look at those issues, deliberate on them and make a pronouncement on them,” Mingo said. The Chairman noted that the first meeting was a cordial one with all the Commissioners committing to working to solve the issues plaguing the local government organs.
“This Commission is tasked and empowered to deal with all matters in relation to the regulation of local government organs and staffing of local government organs, and dispute resolution within and between local government organs and in particular, we shall monitor and review the implementation of regulations and policies of all local government organs, including policies of taxation and protection of the environment,” the Chairman said.
In addition, the body is tasked with the monitoring, evaluation and making recommendations on the policies, procedures and practices of all local government organs. The body is also tasked with investigating any matter under its purview and proposing remedial action to the Communities Minister whenever and wherever necessary.
“I want to reassure that we intend to carry out our duties and responsibilities in keeping with the letter and the spirit of the law as enshrined under the Local Government Act. We intend to be transparent in our deliberations and we intend to keep the public fully informed of our work and what we intend to do in order to enhance accountability and transparency for good local governance,” the Chairman further added. The Commission was established after pressure from civil society and the Opposition following Local Government Elections in 2016.