“Where did the money go?” So asked Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, Franklin Khan, in reference to $20 billion that was spent on social services programmes over a seven-year period between different governments in T&T.
Khan was addressing chairmen and other representatives from the 14 regional corporation bodies across T&T at a meeting yesterday on local government reform at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation. Disclosing the Poverty Report for 2007, Khan said poverty in T&T averaged 17.4 per cent. He added that in 2014, that figure shockingly increased to 24 per cent.
“Between 2007 to 2014, in two different governments, $20 billion was spent in social services but where did the money go? Something is fundamentally wrong,” Khan said.
“The decisions in the system is disorganised and poorly administered. There are leaks and wastages and very likely corrupt,” he added.
Khan said he strongly believed monies which were supposed to go to the people who genuinely needed it in society for food cards, disability grants, housing grants for improvements and repairs did not get it.
He said under the local government reform, corporations would be given more power and responsibilities, one of which was the responsibility of the delivery of social services to the people in the community, who really deserved them and who would be pointed out by their respective councillors.
During the series of public consultations during the past several months throughout at the regional corporation regions, Khan said the theme that permeated the entire consultation exercise was accountability.
He said while the people’s opinion was reasonable of giving more power to the people who were already corrupt, which they feared would bring upon more corruption, Khan said what was most startling to him was that the accusation of corruption was not at the level by councillors but at the administration.
“I have heard too many accusations in the consultations to turn a blind eye, so as part of this legislative reform we will seek to amend the Integrity in Public Life Act,” Khan said.
Local government reform, according to Khan, is expected to remove the red tape and bureaucracies that prevent local government bodies from doing their work in an effective and efficient manner.
Some of the proposals for local government reform as highlighted by Khan includes security of funding, which will allow corporations to keep certain taxes and revenues collected within their boundaries to use for their own development, example property tax and traffic/parking tickets.
“Regional corporations will also be given the responsibility for school maintenance and local tourism, example the Devil’s Woodyard in the Princes Town Regional Corporation,” Khan said.
The local government reform document will be handed over to Cabinet today for approval. Khan said if it was approved there would be two final consultations in North and South which would also allow public feedback.