Committee looks to bring local government to the capital

Committee looks to bring local government to the capital
From left: Minister of Transport and Local Government, Frankie Campbell and Nicola Virgill-Rolle.

Cabinet has approved a committee to spearhead the implementation of local government branches in New Providence, revealed Minister of Transport and Local Government Frankie Campbell on Monday.

It’s a goal that successive government have promised for over a decade but have not been unable to deliver on.

Campbell told Eyewitness News yesterday that the committee will consider the program’s feasibility and practically for New Providence before its expected implementation, a dare for which has not been specified.

He said a team from his ministry has been visiting the Family Island districts, where local government is at work, to see how best the program can be modified to effectively function in New Providence.

“We want to see firsthand how its working,” Campbell said.

“We also want to hear from practitioners about what deficiencies there are so that when we get to the point of introducing local government to New providence, it is user friendly and as practical as possible.”

Eyewitness News understands that Nicola Virgill-Rolle, who headed the National Development Plan (NDP) Secretariat, will head the committee which will be focused on expanding local government with assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Campbell acknowledge that there is a keen interest to introduce local government in New Providence – which was evidenced, he said, by the high volume of young people who ran for office during the last general election.