October 1998

The Abaconian Page 37

Min. Turnquest Addresses Local Government

Mr. Tommy Turnquest, Minister for
Public Works and Local Government,
addressed a session of a Local Government
workshop held at the Abaco Beach Hotel
on September 11th and 12th. Forty
members of Local Government attended
the two-day seminar.

Mr. Turnquest said, “Abaco is
repeatedly used as a shining example of
how local government is working
effectively.” He concluded his remarks by
saying, “Local government is not a
destination but is a continuing journey.”

Projects Announced

At the public evening meeting on
September 12th at the Anglican Hall, Mr.
Turnquest stated that it is difficult to
budget works projects in the Bahamas due
to its archipelago nature. For example,
Jamaica is physically larger and has a
population of six million. However, they
are serviced by only two international
airports. Abaco itself has two international
airports.

Mr. Turnquest announced the following
projects during the question and answer
period.

® Front Street in Marsh Harbour is due
to be repaved.

® Port expansion will most likely be at
the existing facility and work should begin
this fiscal year.

@ The port expansion will utilize some
government land now in the Mud area.

@ Work should begin this fiscal year on
the airport terminal building and control
tower.

® The existing 3500-foot airstrip at
Mootre’s Island will be resurfaced and will
later be extended to 4,500 feet.

Sandy Point
Administrator ls Named
During the public meeting, Mr.

Turnquest announced that Ms. Gloria Bain
will be arriving in October to take up the
post of Deputy Administrator in Sandy
Point. She is presently serving as
Administrator for South Andros and
Mangrove Cay.

Workshop Sessions

The main speakers for the daily sessions
included -Mr. Ronald Thompson,
Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of
Local Works, Mr. Alexander Flowers,
Senior Deputy Administrator in the
Department of Local Government, Mr.

Harrison Thompson, Under Secretary, and
Mr. Dewitt Hanna, Under Secretary in the
Ministry of Public Works and Local
Government. Topics included accounting,
budgeting, revenue collecting at the local
level and legal matters related primarily to
local contracts and employment.

It was stressed that local government is
an arm of central government and not an
entity unto itself. Copies of relevant acts

Mr. Tommy Turnquest, Minister of Public Works and Local Government, shares a moment

 

with Mr. Chrisfield Johnson, Senior Deputy Administrator for North Abaco.

and regulations will be made available to
councils, town committees and statutory
boards on request. It was highly
recommended that members familiarize
themselves with the laws and rules in the
areas they are governing.

The council and town committees are
elected bodies and make the decisions. The
appointed boards only make
recommendations for council to act on.

Mr. Thompson said the Department of
Local Government is trying to curtail the
practice of government agencies going to
the Out Islands unannounced and
proceeding with projects without telling
anyone locally what is going on. The
projects may be highly desirable but it is
frustrating when no one locally knows
what is happening.

Standardization

The Ministry of Local Government is
working to standardize various forms and
procedures. Suggested forms by Nassau
were circulated and actual forms used on
Abaco were reviewed. The best ideas will
be used to make standard forms to be used
throughout the islands.

Minutes, agendas and meeting formats
are to be standardized and implemented
throughout the system.

Budget Funding

Councils have the authority to direct
budgeted funds to other areas to suit
changing priorities. Councils also have the
authority to allocate transportation expense
money to elected and appointed officials
for travel in the course of their duties. This
particularly applies to those living on or
servicing the cays.

Many of the local problems concerning
a lack of money would be alleviated if
some capital funds were given. Without

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FAX: 242-393-1710

 

any capital money, recurring budgeted
money is occasionally diverted to handle
problems that arise beyond normal
maintenance allowances.

When budgeted monies are received by
councils, each town should be given its
share although it is not mandated that
council give each town what it asked for.
Changing circumstances might require that
funds be diverted. This can only be done
democratically with council’s permission
bearing in mind that all towns are
represented on the council. '

Town committee and council members
were asked to be specific in their budgets
and fully justify their requests. It is not
acceptable to submit a wish list.

Benjamin Pinder was annoyed with
government agencies which make demands
of the councils without providing funds to
carry out the new instructions.

It was asked why money was not
allocated on the basis of collections as
originally intimated. Mr. Hart said there are
districts less fortunate than Abaco and
government must look after all the islands.

“Central Abaco averages $1.6 million

per month in revenue collections,” said
Administrator Hart.

 

Revenue collections are public
information although individual are
frequently obscure and not readily
available.

Highway Maintenance

Central government is responsible for

maintaining the main highway. However,

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there seems to be problems defining the
highway as it approaches towns.
Administrator Hart complimented North
Abaco on their outstanding maintenance on
road verges. Shoulders are smooth and the
grass is always cut. South Abaco could also
do this if they had equipment remarked Mr.
Pinder of Sandy Point.

Cherokee then asked if the road leading
to their town was their responsibility or
central governments. Various aspects of the
highway are being looked into. Highway
maintenance is an area which lends itself
into an island-wide jurisdiction.

Contract Work

The desirability for contracting work as
opposed to hiring employees was stressed
repeatedly. With contracted work, many
employment headaches can be avoided.
Unsatisfactory workmanship can be dealt
with much easier than contending with
unsatisfactory employees.

National Insurance, liability problems
and vacations are all dealt with by the
contractor and not local government.
People working under a contract are due
the same consideration as any other
employee. However, the burden for seeing
that these benefits are provided rests with
the contractor and not with local
government. Contractors must factor these
items into their bids.

The opening of bids for contracted work
must be done in public, The acceptance of
the bids may be delayed so the
qualifications and terms of those bidding
may be investigated, if necessary. It is not

required that the lowest bid be accepted.
However, there must be valid reasons for
accepting higher bids. Assistance may-be
required in evaluating complicated bids.
Central government will provide assistance
on request.

Hotel Room Tax

The 4% hotel room tax must be paid
monthly to the Administrator’s Office. This
does not come out of the fee charged for

the room but is a room tax collected by the
hotel on behalf of the government and must
not be kept by the hotel. Other fees charged
by hotels must not be labeled as “room
tax.”

 

Subdivision Rules

“A subdivision can consist of as few as
two lots,” said Mr. Dewitt Hanna. Bonds
are required covering the value of the roads
and other amenities. If a developer
defaults, these bonds are redeemed by

PLEASE SEE Seminar Page 42

DAILY FLIGHTS BETWEEN
ABACO & FREEPORT

ROUTE
FREEPORT/TREASURE

TREASURE/FREEPORT

FREEPORT/MARSH H.

MARSH H/FREEPORT

FREEPORT/SANDY PT.

SANDY PT./MOoRES Is.
Moores I|sS./FREEPORT
FREEPORT/WALKERS C.

FREQ..
DAILY
FRiI-SUN
DAILY
FRI-SUN
DAILY
FRI-SUN
DAILY
FRI-SUN
FRI-SUN
FRI-SUN
FRI-SUN
DaiLy 7AM

AR. TIME
0735
1705
0825
1755
0745
1645
0845
1745
1300
l325
1420
TUE/FRI/SUN PM FLIGHT

DEP. TIME
0700
1630
0750
1720
0700
1600
0800
| 700
1230
1250
L335

Call 242-352-5778 @ 242-359-4722 e 242-352-5781
Fax 242-352-5778 e Freeport International Airport