Local gov’t ministry developing comprehensive plan to spur development in all regions

The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development is working assiduously with officials from all ten administrative regions to better infrastructural development across the country.

During an outreach to Region Six on Monday, Minister Sonia Parag disclosed that robust communication will be fostered among the ministry, Regional Executive Officers (REO), and Regional Health Officers (RHO) to ensure all services are up to date.

“As the local government minister now and since we have responsibility for all those health centres and schools in the different regions, I have taken the initiative of meeting with all the REOs and the RHOs so that we can come up with a comprehensive plan as to how we can start the repairing of these schools and these health centres,” Minister Parag explained.

She said this initiative is important for the development of the region and to bring comfort and add value to the lives of students and residents who benefit from these facilities. 

As such, the minister encouraged the regional leaders as well as citizens to partner with the government so that they can work collaboratively to positively build the communities.

Additionally, she noted that residents need to voice their concerns and the regional leaders, especially those at the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) have the responsibility to listen and act swiftly to address their concerns.

“I have a zero-tolerance approach for NDCs which do not engage the people. I have sent out a notice to all the NDCs, notifying them that they are to have meetings and I am to have a report to see what the issues are and see where we can give guidance from in terms of the ministry level every single month,” the local government minister stated.

She believes this approach will help to solve most of the issues that exist in the communities and will promote a smoother process of development.