New councillors in office on Saturday

Councillors elected in this month's local elections will take office on Saturday after taking their oath of office at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta, on Monday.

Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg, who is responsible for local councils, told the councillors at the ceremony they had to be careful to ensure that the decisions they took were within the bounds of the law and in the interest of their locality.

When buying services or products they had to remember that they were using public funds and that regulations and procedures had to be observed.

Councillors had to be transparent and accountable in their behaviour, two important principles in public administration. Each council was expected to follow the basic principles of efficiency, effectiveness and economy in its operations.

The minister told the councillors that the Local Government Department, together with the directorate in the Prime Minister's Office responsible for funds and the Local Councils Association, would be helping all councils to have an opportunity to submit project proposals to the EU.

Each request, the minister said, had to be evaluated and placed in an order of priority but he was convinced that if the councils submitted feasible projects they would also be able to benefit from EU funds that the government had acquired for Malta for use between 2007 to 2013.