- residents want IMC to manage area
The Assistant Overseer of the Grove/Diamond Neighbourhood
Democratic Council was up to late yesterday still in police
custody for the disappearance of over $400,000 in cash.
Reports are that the official was tasked with depositing the
cash in the bank during the week but that did not occur.
The NDC, once considered a model for its work, has been under
fire in recent times. Its previous Overseer reportedly
resigned in a cloud of suspicion.
The arrest of the Assistant Overseer comes at a time when
residents of the area which include Grove, Kaneville, and the
New Diamond and Golden Grove Housing Schemes, have been
complaining over garbage piles.
The trench at the entrance of the
Diamond Housing Scheme covered by overgrown weed.
Some have called for the disbandment of the Council and the
establishment of an Interim Management Committee (IMC).
According to former Overseer, Mohamed Kassim, a letter
petitioning the establishment of the committee was sent to the
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga
Persaud, in December 2011. However, to date nothing has been
done.
The petition complained about mal-administration by some
Councillors that resulted in the NDC being ill-equipped to
execute day-to-day functions, including regular garbage
collection, drainage works, road maintenance and the clearing
of encumbrances on parapets.
According to Kassim, in June 2011, it became evident that the
NDC had financial troubles. Subsequently, residents wrote the
then Minister of Local Government and Regional Development,
Norman Whittaker, seeking his intervention.
Residents are still waiting for the publishing of financial
records which were supposedly submitted to the Ministry for
auditing. The inaction of the Ministry has led to the
deterioration of the NDC, Kassim believes.
Garbage collection and drainage works have been interrupted
owing to the absence of funds.
Though the Council has resumed garbage collection, weeks of
neglect resulted in the creation of illegal dumps on parapets.
Moreover, the pathway leading to Grove’s closed dumpsite is
overflowing with garbage.
Resident says that for almost 10 months now, drains in the
areas were neither cleared of silt nor weeded. The fear now is
that heavy rains could cause flooding.
Region Four Chairman Clement Corlette says the solution to the
problems with the NDC does not lie in the setting up of IMCs,
but in Local Government elections, which will usher in a fresh
breed of neighbourhood councils.
Thursday,
January 12, 2012
