EU Boosts Port Loko District Council

The donation, he said will help the council deliver it services to the entire district and the country as a whole and   thanked EU for the gesture. He appealed to all including staff of the council and residents of the district to ensure the items are used for their intended purposes. Giving an overview of the Project, Coordinator of the Port Loko District Council–EU Funded Project, Franlyn Belmoh lamented that like other Local Councils in the country, the Port Loko District Council is also plagued with many challenges in terms of service delivery, pointing out that in order to remedy the situation, management staff of the council prepared and submitted a project proposal to the EU which was later approved. The main thrust of the two-year project, he said is to promote community development and effective local governance system in the council. He described the ceremony as a clear manifestation of the unwavering commitment of the leadership of the council and EU to ensure that the objective of the project is fully realized. Handing over the items to the Chief Administrator of the council, the Director of Decentralization Secretariat, Alex Bonapha, commended staff of the council for their hard work, noting that in spite of the numerous challenges facing them, they have been able to stand out prominently in terms of service delivery. He encouraged all local councils to introduce a robust archiving system that would promote transparency, accountability and an effective records management of their activities. “It can only be better if you introduce the right monitoring and control system in your programmes”, he said, while expressing optimism that the vehicles and motorbikes will address the existing monitoring and supervision gap in the council. He entreated the council to make the best use of the items. Receiving the items, the Chief Administrator of the Council, Rhaman Tom Farmar, described the ceremony as “a stepping stone” that would also help promote the council’s aspirations and re-echoed his council’s continued commitment to ensuring existing capacity gaps in the councils in terms of service delivery are filled. He thanked all who in diverse ways have contributed in promoting activities of the council assured all of a robust and effective monitoring and control system that would ensure the items are managed in a transparent and accountable manner and thanked the EU for the support. A Civil Society Activist, Nancy Gbanmoi expressed their desire to complement government and partners efforts in ensuring that development  funds are utilized judiciously while thanking the donor and council for organizing the event.