Engage local govt bodies in solar power generation: USAID

The local government bodies in coastal areas can be encouraged to manage disasters during and after the extreme natural events and generate solar power, a top USAID official said yesterday.
US Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director Denise Rollins said the local government bodies in the country should be brought out from their conventions and entrust them with new tasks like power generation from renewable energy sources.
The suggestions came at a national conference on local governance, organised by Research Triangle Institute (RTI), a USAID funded organisation that worked for last three years to strengthen local government bodies in the country.
Chief of party of RTI William J Althaus, Democracy Watch Executive Director Taleya Rehman, Khan Foundation Executive Director Advocate Rokhshana Khondker, Stephen Pereira and Dr AKM Saifullah of RTI also spoke on the occasion.
The conference marked the wind up of the USAID-RTI's Democratic Local Governance Programme (DLGP), which worked for an effective, responsive and accountable local government system in the country for last three years.
The DLGP also focused on developing a participatory local government structure and has successfully helped 70 union parishads (UPs) and 14 municipalities in Rajshahi and Khulna divisions.
It helped the UPs and municipalities to mobilise their local resources, involve communities, prepare mid and long term plans, find new income sources and introduce open budgeting system. Started in October 2005, the projects will come to an end by this month.
"This was an innovative project, but it is going to be closed due to lack of resource," Denise said, urging other donor communities to come forward and help strengthen local government institutes in Bangladesh, where she believes that 'local government is the root of democracy.'
Giving democracy an institutional shape, she said, there was no alternative to strengthening the local government bodies. The basic objective of USAID was to make efficient, transparent, accountable, and a strong local government system in Bangladesh, she said.