DONALDSON
Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
THE ASSOCIATION of Local Government Authorities (ALGA) has called for control over waste collection to be handed back to parish councils from National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
The ALGA executive is also demanding that property tax expenditure be controlled by parish councils and not central government, as mandated by law, said vice-president and Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Noel Donaldson.
Currently, property tax expenditure, which is mandated by law to be spent on Local Government services such as waste management and street lighting, is decided by central government and not parish councils. The ALGA executive has asked government to stop paying NSWMA directly from property tax revenue as of March 31 and to revert control over expenditure and tendering to the island's parish councils and the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC).
"Property taxes have been paid by government to NSWMA but by law, property taxes should be directly paid to the councils, allowing the councils to allocate expenditure for street lighting and waste collection, as mandated," said Donaldson.
IN ARREARS
Paying NSWMA first, according to their budgetary demands made to government, he said, had left parish councils in arrears for street lighting to Jamaica Public Service with St. James Parish Council owing approximately $50 million.
The group said that it has unsuccessfully requested meetings with NSWMA executive chairman Alston Stewart. Contacted by The Gleaner, Mr. Stewart replied: "I am not making any comment on this issue until the board meets." He said a date had not yet been set for the board meeting.
EXPRESSED SUPPORT
Donaldson did, however, ex-press "unreserved support", on behalf of the ALGA executive, for the investigation into the NSWMA's operation launched by Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller, the minister of local government. But Audley Shaw, Opposition spokes-man for finance, said the investigation was insufficient, recommending instead a probe by Auditor General Adrian Strachan.
"What the minister has proposed looks like a pre-emptive effort to satisfy the opposition. The Auditor General would be able to give a fuller examination that could be reported to the Public Accounts Committee," said Mr. Shaw who is also chairman of the PAC.
The Auditor General had earlier accused the NSWMA of failing for the second financial year to turn over financial statements, violating the Public Bodies Accountability Act and preventing a proper assessment of its financial affairs.
The ministry's investigation by its internal audit department will examine NSWMA's debts of $200 million, the purchase of five sports utility vehicles and reports that private contractors were recruited at greater cost to replace dismissed workers. The Contractor General will separately investigate suspected irregularities concerning the construction of an access road leading to St. Andrew's Riverton City landfill.
