ISLAMABAD, March 12: The National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) Chairman Daniyal Aziz has said amendments to the Local Government Ordinance 2001 will be finalized soon as the government was holding consultations with the stakeholders at all levels.

Mr Aziz stated this while presiding over a meeting of the National Implementation Body (NIB) here on Saturday.

Senior officials of the provincial local governments, police and finance departments and ministries of interior and finance attended the meeting, which discussed issues relating to the progress status of implementation and funding requirements of Police Order 2002 and necessary amendments to the local government ordinance.

The NAB chairman said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Gen Pervez Musharraf were keen to ensure the speedy implementation of the Police Order 2002 and consolidation of the local government system to benefit the people through a transparent, accountable and democratic system of government.

The local government ordinance and the police order, he said, were the main legal instruments through which improvements could be brought about at the grassroots level.

He said Rs4 billion had been allocated for the implementation of the police order. The funds shall be spent on new institutions created under the police order including provincial public safety and police complaint commission; district public safety and police complaint commission, creation of independent prosecution service, separation of investigation from watch and ward and capacity building.

During the meeting, the provinces agreed to build their capacity for meeting the deadline for provincialization of accounts in line with the cabinet’s decision of November 6, 2002.

It was also pointed out that capacity building and training of elected representatives as well as officials was important for improving service delivery at the grassroots level.

The NRB chairman informed the meeting that funds were available under various projects including the decentralization support programme, community infrastructure project-II and the Asian Development Bank-funded access to justice programme.

He said the provinces needed to prepare training plans for proper utilization of these funds.