Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation
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PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Fifth Session (2014/2015) TENTH PARLIAMENT Twentieth (20th) Report of the Joint Select Committee Appointed to inquire into and report on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions Use same font on an throughout Inquiry into the cover. Administration and Operations of the Couva/Tabaquite/ Ordered to be printed with the Minutes of Talparo Proceedings and Notes of Evidence Regional Corporation 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions An electronic copy of this report can be found on the Parliament website: www.ttparliament.org The Joint Select Committee on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions (with the exception of the Judicial and Legal Service Commissions) Contact the Committee’s Secretariat Telephone: 624-7275 Extensions 2277/2288/2282, Fax: 625-4672 Email: [email protected] ii 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions Twentieth Report of the Joint Select Committee appointed to inquire into and report on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions [with the exception of the Judicial and Legal Service commission] on an Inquiry on the Administration and Operations of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation Date Laid: HoR: 08.06.2015 Senate: 05.06.2015 iii 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions iv 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions The Committee Mr. Anthony Vieira Chairman Mr. Hugh Russell Ian Roach Mr. Prakash Ramadhar, Vice -Chairman MP Member Mrs. Vernella Alleyne - Toppin , Ms. Marlene Coudray Ms. Shamfa Cudjoe MP Member Member Member Mr. Chandresh Sharma, Ms. Marlene McDonald, Mr. Devant Maharaj MP MP Member Member Member Mr. James Lambert Mrs. Joanne Thomas, Mr. Rodger Samuel, Member MP MP Member Member v 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions Committee Mandate and Establishment In accordance with provisions of section 66(A) of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, on September 17, 2010 the House of Representatives and October 12, 2010 the Senate, agreed to a motion on the subject of the appointment of a Joint Select Committee to inquire into and report to Parliament on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions (with the exception of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission) on all matters relating to: . their administration . the manner of exercise of their powers . their methods of functioning; and . any criteria adopted by them in the exercise of their powers and functions. Powers of the Joint Select Committee Standing Orders 71B of the Senate and 101 of the House of Representatives outline that inter alia the Committee is empowered to study and report on all matters relating to the mandate, management and operations of the Ministry or Body assigned to it by the House. In consequence, the Committee has the powers inter alia: to review and report on all matters relating to: . the statute law relating to the Ministry/body assigned to it; . the program and policy objectives of the Ministry/Body and its effectiveness in the implementation of same; . other matters relating to the management , organization of the ministry or body, as the Committee deems it fit; to send for persons, papers and records; to adjourn from place to place; to appoint specialist advisers either to supply information which is not otherwise readily available or to elucidate matters of complexity within the Committee’s terms of reference; and to communicate with any other Committees of Parliament on matters of common interest. vi 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions Membership The members of the Committee are as follows: . Mr. Anthony Vieira1 - Chairman . Mr. Hugh Russell Ian Roach2 - Vice-Chairman . Ms. Marlene Coudray3 . Mr. James Lambert4 . Ms. Shamfa Cudjoe . Mr. Devant Maharaj . Mrs. Vernella Alleyne-Toppin, MP . Mr. Chandresh Sharma, MP . Mr. Rodger Samuel, MP . Mr. Prakash Ramadhar, MP . Ms. Marlene McDonald, MP . Mrs. Joanne Thomas, MP Secretariat Support Secretarial assistance was provided by the following officers: Mr. Julien Ogilvie - Secretary Ms. Candice Skerrette - Assistant Secretary Ms. Kimberly Mitchell - Graduate Research Assistant Mr. Johnson Greenidge - Parliamentary Intern Meetings 1 Mr. Anthony Vieira replaced Mr. Elton Prescott on the Committee with effect from September 23, 2013. 2 Mr. Hugh Russell Ian Roach replaced Mr. Subhas Ramkhelawan on the Committee with effect from May 6, 2014 following his resignation as a Senator on 10 April, 2014 3 Ms. Marlene Coudray replaced Brig.(Ret’d) John Sandy on the Committee with effect from 16.10.12 following the termination of his Senatorial appointment on June 25, 2012 4 Mr. James Lambert replaced Mr. David Abdulah on the Committee with effect from 16.10.12 following the termination of his Senatorial appointment on June 22, 2012. vii 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions For the purpose of this inquiry, the Committee held one meeting with officials of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation on Friday October 31, 2014. viii 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions ix 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions Contents Page # List of Tables and figures ............................................................................................................ xi Table of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... xii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Summary of Recommendations ............................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Background of Inquiry ............................................................................................................. 3 Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Key Issues, Findings and Recommendations .......................................................................... 8 Appendix 1 ................................................................................................................................... 29 Entities falling under the purview of the Committee .............................................................. 30 Appendix 2 ................................................................................................................................... 31 Minutes......................................................................................................................................... 32 Appendix 3 ................................................................................................................................... 43 Excerpt of Verbatim Notes of the public meeting held on October 31, 2014 ........................ 44 Appendix 4………………………………………………………………………………………70 Achievement Report - Health and Safety October 2013 - September 2014…………………71 Appendix 5………………………………………………………………………………………72 Tables outlining the Financial Report - Recurrent and Financial Report - Development Programme……………………………………………………………………………………...73 x 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions List of Tables TABLE NO DETAILS PAGE NO. Table 1 Requests for public health and sanitary services 14 received and completed for the period October 2013 to September 2014 Table 2 Activities of the Municipal Police Department for the 19 period October 2009 to September 2014 List of Figures TABLE NO DETAILS PAGE NO. Figure 1 The boundary of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo 4 Regional Corporation Figure 2 Communities of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo 5 Region xi 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions Table of Abbreviations ABBREVIATION MEANING CEO Chief Executive Officer CERT Community Emergency Response Team DMU Disaster Management Unit MoLG Ministry of Local Government PMCD Public Management Consulting Division PSIP Public Sector Investment Programme SRP Special Reserve Police TTPS Trinidad and Tobago Police Service xii 20th Report of the JSC on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions Executive Summary At its Twenty-Ninth Meeting held on Friday March 07, 2014, the Committee agreed to conduct a review of the administration and operations of the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation. In essence, Committee’s decision was to conduct an inquiry into this Corporation was similar to its rationale for pursuing inquiries into the Corporations; that is, it was interested in determining what were the major issues/challenges affecting the operations of the Corporation and what are the proposed or potential solutions for addressing these challenges. To this end, the Committee sought and obtained written evidence based on certain areas of the Corporation’s operations. Subsequent to reviewing the written submissions received on these areas, the Committee held a public hearing with officials of the Corporation on Friday October 31, 2014. The discussions at the