Hanover councillors want greater role in SPARK programme
Published:Monday | July 15, 2024 | 12:08 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
While Hanover residents are eagerly anticipating the much-needed upgrades to their deteriorating road network under the Government’s $40-billion SPARK Programme, their local political representatives are frustrated with the proposed implementation process of the initiative.
SPARK – the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) – is a two-year programme aimed at modernising more than 2,000 roads islandwide. Announced more than a year ago, the programme is still to be rolled out.
Last Thursday, councillors in the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) voiced dissatisfaction with the consultation sessions held simultaneously in Hanover Western and Hanover Eastern on June 24.
One of their grouses surrounds information given at the sessions that the programme is to be implemented by the National Works Agency (NWA), with input from the members of parliament.
The councillors said they were left unclear as to the fate of the recommendations they made in naming 10 roads in their respective divisions in need of repairs as per the request of the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Marsha Henry-Martin.
After heated discussions at the HMC meeting about how the SPARK consultations were administered, the HMC crafted a media statement.
“While we appreciate the investment in our community’s infrastructure, we are dismayed and disappointed that the community road rehabilitation project will be executed by members of parliament instead of our local councillors,” a section of the statement reads.
“This decision is not only a departure from the norm, but it also undermines the authority and responsibility of our local government.
“Our councillors are best positioned to understand the unique needs of our community and should be entrusted with overseeing the project,” it added.
The statement further said that the programme is seen by the councillors as an attempt to usurp the powers of local government but said that despite their individual reservations, the councillors are prepared to work towards the betterment of their respective communities.
The HMC is made up entirely of People’s National Party members as the opposition party made a clean sweep of the parish in the local government elections earlier this year.