Comm. Centres have no legal authority to charge residents for usage- Malone-Frett
Illegal to charge for use of community centres
Mrs Malone-Frett was at the time responding to a question from the Junior Minister for Tourism and Territorial At Large Member, Hon Archibald C. Christian while testifying before the House of Assembly’s Budget Committee.
The Chief Social Development Officer stated that her Department had drafted legislation two years ago which was sent to Cabinet. She further stated that there were some issues as it relates to the fees that needed to be imbedded into legislation.
To this, the Junior Minister of Tourism enquired whether the concern about the fees was that they were too high or too low. This was when Mrs Anne Malone-Frett unearthed that her Department has no legal authority currently to charge residents for the use of community centres. She noted that “they were looking at developing comprehensive legislation that governed the function of the department and in this way imbedded the fees into same.”
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Development with the portfolio for community centres, Mrs Petrona N. Davis alluded to what her Chief Social Development Officer told the legislators and explained that the Attorney General had advised that fees have to be embedded in law.
Mrs Davis stated that at the moment the department would have to put together drafting instructions for the legislation. She further stated that perhaps it would be feasible to move forward with the areas of the policy that are implementable until some consensus could be reached on the legislation.
However, no one discussed the current legal implications of this revelation and if the public can take the government to court to seek refunds for monies paid over the many years for the use of community centres throughout the Virgin Islands.
Community centres in disrepair
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition and Member for the Third District, Hon Julian Fraser RA stated that there had not been any significant repairs to the community centre in Sea Cows Bay. He further stated that the Valerie O. Thomas Community Centre was in a terrible state of disrepair. Hon Fraser noted that the lights in the centre were not functional, the grounds needed landscaping and enquired whether the department had included repairs of same in their 2016 Budget Estimates.
In addition, the Junior Minister of Tourism Hon Christian asked about repairs to the roof of the Abraham Leonard Community Centre in Carrot Bay while Hon Andrew A. Fahie, Member for the First District, made inquiries on repairs for the West End Community Centre.
The Chief Social Development Officer told the Committee that “monies allotted under Community Centres were for payment of utilities and minor repairs, and any other major repairs would fall under capital.”
Mrs Malone-Frett further stated that last year they had asked the Public Works Department to go around to all community centres and make an assessment. She explained that from the assessment they would be able to ascertain which centres would need urgent attention, as they were all in need of repairs.
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18 Responses to “Comm. Centres have no legal authority to charge residents for usage- Malone-Frett”
If you own it, you to maintain and repair it. Lack of maintenance and repair result in cumulative deficiencies and a maintenance and repair backlog. Budgeting for maintenance includes funding for 1) routine maintenance and repair and 2)backlog reduction. What is the recommended level of maintenance and repair funding for routine work? The Building Research Board recommends as a minimum 2-4% of the aggregate physical plant replacement value(PRV). This sum is in addition to backlog reduction. Committing to timely maintenance and repair avoids having to find funding for major/emergency buildings and building systems premature failure. Maintenance and repair effort must be celebrated in the same manner as cutting the ribbon on a new facility.