By Ruth Yeabu Sesay
The Minister of Local Government Tamba Laminan has interacted with studentsof the Mass Communication Department of Fourah Bay College (FBC) now Faculty of Information and Communication Studies.
The visit was to inform students about the work of the ministry and some of the achievements made and what they as students should expect from their various local councils.
He encouraged students to visit their councils as they are now vibrant entities and also discussed with them about the new Local Government Act, which he said is about ensuring proper coordination for development to take place.
He said: “We have a regional coordinating committee and that committee is to ensure by implementation and take note of the various activities that are ongoing in the local councils and to align them with a mid-term development plan”.
He said parliament has thought it fit that workers of local councils deserve benefits after service. Recalling past experiences he said: “One of the painful moments for me over the past few years is that we have deaths of people in this country but there was no benefits for them even though they worked in councils for many years. Now workers will have benefits moving on”.
Lamina said since President Julius Maada Bio assumed office they have conducted 41 chieftaincy elections, with thirty more to be conducted.
Asked by students why the elections for the chiefs were postponed, he said “we work closely with the electoral commission and we therefore decided to focus on the national elections for now since it tops the scale of relevance”.
He said they have been working with development partners mainly the European Union (EU) and that the various councils have been benefiting from grants provided which have enhanced developmental projects in many localities.
The minister named Karene, Falaba, Bombali, Pujehun Kenema and Kambia as districts that have benefited from a 25 million Euro EU grant for the development of their communities.
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