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Junior Minister defends relevance of Local Government conference
Minister with Responsibility for Local Government Robert Montaque has described a recent trip to the Commonwealth Local Government in the Bahamas as money well spent.
At a press conference on Thursday morning Mr. Montaque was unapologetic in his defence of the decision to spend $10 million to take a 75 man delegation to the Conference.
Mr. Montaque maintained that as the leader in local government reform in the region, Jamaica had to have a representative at the conference.
He added that as the local government reform continues the exposure of councilors to four days of 32 workshops on climate change, policy management and writing, disaster management was invaluable.
The Junior Minister expressed disappointment that all 220 councillors across the island could attend the conference given its importance to progress of local government.
"We never went to the Bahamas for a vacation, if we wanted a vacation we could have had a wonderful vacation in Negril or Ocho Rios, we went for knowledge," said Mr. Montaque.
Mr. Montaque however admitted that the $10 million spent on the trip was a hefty sum but was justified as councilors learned more in the four days than they could have in four years.
He noted that each council has received explicit instructions to implement projects based on knowledge gained at the conference.
Mr. Montaque said already the May Pen Councillor is looking at the establishment of a new traffic management scheme to reduce fatalities among children due to traffic accidents in the parish.
http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/18171/26/
Minister with Responsibility for Local Government Robert Montaque has described a recent trip to the Commonwealth Local Government in the Bahamas as money well spent.
At a press conference on Thursday morning Mr. Montaque was unapologetic in his defence of the decision to spend $10 million to take a 75 man delegation to the Conference.
Mr. Montaque maintained that as the leader in local government reform in the region, Jamaica had to have a representative at the conference.
He added that as the local government reform continues the exposure of councilors to four days of 32 workshops on climate change, policy management and writing, disaster management was invaluable.
The Junior Minister expressed disappointment that all 220 councillors across the island could attend the conference given its importance to progress of local government.
"We never went to the Bahamas for a vacation, if we wanted a vacation we could have had a wonderful vacation in Negril or Ocho Rios, we went for knowledge," said Mr. Montaque.
Mr. Montaque however admitted that the $10 million spent on the trip was a hefty sum but was justified as councilors learned more in the four days than they could have in four years.
He noted that each council has received explicit instructions to implement projects based on knowledge gained at the conference.
Mr. Montaque said already the May Pen Councillor is looking at the establishment of a new traffic management scheme to reduce fatalities among children due to traffic accidents in the parish.
http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/18171/26/