SUVA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Regional local government leaders from the Commonwealth met in Suva, capital of Fiji on Thursday and Friday to discuss collectively enhancing local service delivery.
Officiating at the two-day forum, Fiji's Minister for Local Government, Housing, Environment, Infrastructure and Transport Parveen Bala said the workshop would enable participants to share experiences and good practices in order to strengthen local accountability.
"We share many of the same challenges and pressures in ensuring good leadership at the local level. We need to act collectively in ensuring that our local governments respond effectively and accountably to the needs of local communities," Bala said.
"Furthermore, we need to ensure that councils have the necessary policies, capacity and resources to deliver core services."
"We can learn from each other and we can also collectively develop workable and locally appropriate solutions to shared challenges," Bala said.
He also called on participants to introduce effective planning programs for local governments as it has been proven that localities with effective planning and implementation programs achieve better results.
