Local Government Representatives Urged to Read Handbook

Local Government representatives are being urged to familiarise themselves with the latest edition of the councillors handbook, by Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie.

The 300-page handbook, entitled ‘A Guide for Jamaican Councillors’, will be made available to the representatives shortly.

“When you get it, read it, because it is a guide that is useful,” the Minister told the councillors at a sensitisation session held at The Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on January 4.

The handbook was published by the Department of Local Government as a guide for current and future councillors on their roles and responsibilities as well as the operations of the Local Authority.

The councillors were drawn from the municipalities of Kingston and St. Andrew, and St. Thomas.

The interactive orientation sessions are designed to expose councillors to the range of duties they must perform as individual representatives of their divisions and as collective municipal and civic representatives.

During the session, the participants were also advised about the laws and policies that govern their stewardship, in addition to how they should execute their duties.

The sessions involved senior officers of the Ministry; Contractor General, Dirk Harrison; and technical experts from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.