Minister of Local Government Dr Surujrattan Rambachan said he will seek an increased 2013 fiscal package for regional corporations in an effort to get more developmental work done. But he did not say how much more he would petition for. Speaking to reporters during his ministry's Kids' Day Programme yesterday at its Maraval headquarters, Rambachan said he would approach the Ministry of Finance as soon as the budget was passed to get funding so projects could begin immediately.
Rambachan said he had made several changes in the ministry since taking up the position in June, and works that the ministry had scheduled for 2013 would in fact begin in October of this year. However, he said some areas would require more funding than others, as their infrastructural needs might be greater.
"What I am trying to do is to have the amount of development funding for local government corporations raised. There are some areas that require a lot more infrastructural work than other areas. "For example, right now in the Diego Martin area, with the destruction that had taken place there, a lot of work is required," he said.
Rambachan said when he came into office, he asked all councillors to tour their electoral areas and give him an assessment of the work which was needed to be done. "I invited each one of the councillors to walk their electoral areas. In other words, there are 134 persons who walked in their electoral areas and came up with a list of all the work that has to be done. So I can then sit down with them and prioritise, corporation by corporation, to see what is necessary.
"And the reason I am doing this is because I want to develop a three-year plan rather than a one-year plan, so that it can roll over into the next year and into the following year. I am receiving those things now from the different corporations," Rambachan said.