The parliamentary opposition has called for Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie to urgently provide all municipal corporations with their September allocations from the Parochial Revenue Fund to allow a comprehensive drain cleaning programme island-wide to avoid
flooding from Tropical Storm Melissa.
In a statement Thursday, Spokesperson on Local Government Natalie Neita-Garvey, said the minister himself had designated the September allocation for drain cleaning, yet no funds had been provided up to this point.
She accused the minister of providing funds in a haphazard manner and restricting use of special funds, thereby preventing scheduled infrastructure maintenance, even as Melissa poses a threat to Jamaica.
"My consultations with mayors and minority leaders across the country confirm constant lateness in transfers from the Ministry of Local Government to the local authorities. This situation poses a high risk to property and life. And the last exercise of drain cleaning was done in June, four months ago, which in itself was inadequate. This has formed a wider part of a cash crunch, where local government authorities have to be subsidising salaries coming out of the recent review of compensation," Mrs. Neita-Garvey complained.
She said Minister McKenzie is presiding over an underfunded local government system, where the municipal corporations are cash-strapped.
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