The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

WORKS and Family Island Affairs Minister Clay Sweeting said his ministry had drafted amendments to the Local Government Act to strengthen the impact of local government on Family Island communities.

He said a 19-member committee travelled throughout Family Islands seeking input from local government and council administrators.

During last year's Speech from The Throne, the Davis administration pledged to change the local government law to enhance the institution in Family Islands. The government had hired consultants to redraft the Local Government Act to give more power to Family Island councils, including greater ability to raise revenue.

Mr Sweeting declined to give a timeline for when the legislation will be brought to Parliament.

“There are some things they wanted to do in regard to legislation and how they tie into all of that because the local Government Act also ties into other acts such as building control and things of that sort, so hopefully we will get that completed soon, but the format, the draft is completed and it’s at the AG’s office," he said during a briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

In the Blueprint for Change, the Progressive Liberal Party’s pre-election manifesto, the party committed to creating a local government regime in New Providence. However, little has been said about this since then.

The Minnis administration also promised to introduce local government to New Providence, but failed to do so.