MUNICIPAL councils will be required to submit periodic operational and maintenance reports for donated equipment.
In Parliament last week, Local Government Minister Maciu Nalumisa said this was part of the ministry’s efforts to strengthen accountability measures for councils that will soon be receiving equipment worth $12.5million.
“The Ministry of Local Government fully recognised that in previous years several municipal councils have experienced operational difficulties due to aging machinery, insufficient maintenance budgets, shortage of spare parts and increasing operational demands resulting from urban growth as well as rising urban population,” he said.
“The ministry is strengthening accountability measures for councils receiving the equipment.”
He said under the grant agreement with the Government of Japan, municipal councils were required to ensure that all donated equipment was properly maintained, solely used for municipal council purposes, not transferred or disposed of, or written off without approval and regularly monitored and reported upon.
“The ministry will require councils to submit periodic operational and maintenance reports using vehicle utilisation rates, servicing of schedules, operational performance, downtime reports and maintenance expenditure.
“This will allow the ministry to monitor fleet performance and identify emerging maintenance issues at an early stage.”
He said the ministry was also working with the councils to improve preventative maintenance practices.
“It is one of the key lessons that we have learned from previous fleet management experiences, in the delay of servicing these vehicles which often lead to higher repair costs as well as shortened equipment lifespan.
“As part of this program, the councils will be encouraged to implement scheduled preventative servicing plans as well as routine inspections, operator accountability systems and asset management registers to track equipment conditions and usage.
“The ministry is also exploring the development of standardised municipal fleet management guidelines to improve consistency across all councils.”
