Council views involvement of opposition Councillors in financial affairs of City as important

Dear Editor,

Please refer to the letter captioned ‘City audit and procurement committees should have had opposition councillors’. We thank the author for his observation. However, we would like to bring clarity to this particular issue. The records of Council show that a Councillor who represents the Alliance For Change is a member of the Audit Committee.

Also, it is important to note that a Councillor who is a member of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) is a member of the Council’s Finance Committee. The Council views the involvement of opposition Councillors in the financial affairs of the City as important to the whole process of transparence and accountability.

The Council has three Standing Committees as prescribed by the Municipal and District Councils Act Chapter 28:01; Finance, City Works and the Social Development Committees. It is mandatory that every sitting council appoints members to sit on these committees. Also, Council has the authority to appoint general and specific committees as it deems necessary.

It must be understood that the Tender and Procurement and Audit Committees are all sub -committees of the Council’s Finance Committee. The Tender and Procurement and Audit Committees support the work of the Finance Committee and they enable the work of the Finance Committee to be more diverse and will allow for the implementation of more internal control mechanisms. These committees were introduced to allow for more prudent financial management of the Council’s resources.

Yours faithfully,

Debra Lewis

Public Relations Officer