Tunapuna Corporation minority to Al-Rawi: Put on your working boots

Placards lined the street as near 20 protesters gathered outside the Parliament on Wednesday calling for new Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Faris Al-Rawi to get to work.

Speaking with Newsday, council minority leader of the
Tunapuna/ Piarco Regional Corporation J-Lynn Roopnarine made the appeal.

“You are now the Minister of Local Government and I am hoping that you would put on your working boots and facilitate and give us the resources that we need in the corporation to provide services to our burgesses.”

She said while she has no problem with the legislation which seeks to give some level of self-sufficiency to municipalities thereby entrusting them with executive authority to manage and govern their affairs similar to that enjoyed by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA). She said, the problem is, would this benefit the councillors?

“They keep saying in every budget that they read, monies are allocated, but the problem stands where it doesn’t be released and this is our challenge. We cannot do simple projects in our area – imagine, our construction team has been down for quite some time.”

She said this is her second term in office, yet her construction team has not done anything.

“We have a lot of issues in the district, we have potholes that cannot even be fixed, we have unemployment, even we have all of our equipment that isn’t even working, the recreational grounds are not cut. So this legislation is it going to benefit us as councillors. Is it going to help us provide the services to our burgesses?"

Penal Councillor Shanty Boodram of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation shared this view,calling on Al-Rawi to visit the corporation.

“Come down to the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation. While we look at the local government reform, we know that it would benefit in the long run, but there are things that we’re not sure the government would put power on in the legislation to help us.”

She added: "Right now, they have releases that is allocated in the budget, $65 million in the Penal/ Debe regional corporation. We are not getting the funding to do any projects or do anything from since last year. The financial year started last year. This is our third quarter and we are not getting releases. We had to protest to get simple things like diesel for our vehicles to do work.”

Questioned about her confidence in the minister, she said he needs to start performing post haste.

“I cannot say that until he starts performing. Then I would know what to say, because he wasn't performing as Attorney General and everything that was supposed to be brought in the courts, he failed. As it is right now, he said he wants to work with us, so we are asking let him come and hear all the complaints and all that we have.”

Chairman of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation Henry Awong agreed that reform is needed, but he said whatever reform is tabled and approved should at the end of the day benefit the people.

“The reform is hinged on property tax; that is how they are going to fix the thing they say, how they are going to fix the money issues and the funding issues, however I am of the opinion that property tax shouldn’t be imposed upon the people at this point in time. Coming out of the hardship of covid19 and everything else, to come and impose a property tax now."