Stabroek News has invited the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change to submit a weekly column on local government and related matters. Only APNU has submitted one this week.
The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administration seems to believe that it can trample on citizens’ fundamental rights indefinitely. This is illustrated by the introduction of the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, No. 12 of 2012 that was needed to fulfil a constitutional provision enacted in 2001.
The purpose of this Bill was to amend the Local Government Act (Cap. 28:02) to bring it into conformity with the new constitutional provision. The Bill that was tabled, however, did not fulfil this mandate or, in particular, provide that “local democratic organs shall be autonomous.” This was because it retained sections (13 and 14) which allowed a Minister to assume and exercise “any or all of the powers of a local authority whenever it appears
