Dharamlall stonewalls questions on Local Gov’t Elections

Questions posed by the Opposition in the National Assembly on Local Government Elections and other programmes and projects under the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development were met with a single response: “Refer to the National Estimates passed at the 12th Sitting of the National Assembly.”

A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, who had tabled the questions, told Village Voice News that the Minister of Local Government Nigel Dharamlall’s failure to adequately response to the questions sends a bad signal.

“The minister is either ignorant of his role and that is to account to the people of this country through their representatives or he deliberately is withholding the answers because there may be a calculated effort to put monies in his friends and family pockets,” MP Mahipaul told this newspaper.

The APNU+AFC Parliament was hoping to ascertain what awareness programme the Local Government Ministry would put in place to educate the nation on the pending Local Government Elections.

Further, he sought to ascertain when the Local Government Commission will be fully constituted. MP Mahipaul had also enquired into the Sustainable Livelihood Entrepreneurial (SLED) Projects and developments at the Haags Bosch Landfill Site, among other programmes.