The four local government bills dropped from the Parliamentary Order Paper last week are on the Order Paper for Thursday’s sitting of the National Assembly and it is expected that unlike the previous sitting, the legislation will be considered by the House.
Last Thursday, Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud remained silent when asked to take the reins on the four bills. Government members refused several calls to address the bills following a move by the opposition to give them priority at the sitting ahead of other matters, including the Hydro Electric Power (Amendment) Bill and the motion to raise the cap on the country’s debt ceiling. As a result, after a recess, Speaker of the National Assembly Trotman announced that the bills would be dropped, as stipulated by Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice.
The Local Government Commission Bill, the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, the Municipal and District Councils (Amend-ment) Bill and the Fiscal Transfers Bill were scrutinised over the past few months by the Select Com-mittee on Local Government, which was
