No decision has been made about local government elections and discussions on a possible postponement are ongoing, Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said yesterday. “There is no determination on that yet,” he said in response to questions from reporters during a walkabout along Roberts Road, Phillipine Village, San Fernando, adding that the elections are the “purview” of the Prime Minister.
The term of local government bodies ended last month and local government elections are due before the end of October. The issue of a possible postponement was raised last Wednesday. Following a national executive meeting at the United National Congress’s headquarters at Rienzi Complex, Couva, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the party’s local government councillors asked her to postpone the elections. She said the matter would be discussed.
Moonilal, leader of government business in the House of Representatives, said, “Local government elections (are) not postponed and there is no determination in that as yet. There are discussions that are ongoing on this issue in the context of local government transformation and in the context of the referendum, that one is contemplating on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) matter in particular.” He assured that no decision has been arrived at on local government elections.
The Oropouche East MP, along with officials from his constituency office, the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), T&TEC and supporters, walked through Phillipine Village listening to concerns raised by residents. The major issues raised were poor drainage and bad roads and Moonilal promised they would be addressed. He said the walkabout had been planned some time ago.
“This is a programme we devised at midterm, that we would visit the constituency on a walkabout and assess the work we have done so far and what new work needs to be done over the next two years. “It is really a midterm walkabout programme that we have embarked upon for assessment and intervention in the constituency.”
Moonilal said he wanted to get a first-hand look at what is happening in his constituency. “This is nothing new. There is nothing that is motivating this except at midterm for parliamentary elections,” he said.