Duties of Local Authorities under Section 51 of the Local Government Act are wide-ranging A municipal or district council shall, within the limits of the area under its jurisdiction, be responsible for - (a) subject to the Roads Act - (i) the cleansing and lighting of all motorways and main roads; (ii) the construction, care, maintenance, improvement, cleansing and lighting of all public roads; the collection and removal to approved disposal sites of household, industrial, commercial and agricultural waste and of such other waste as the Minister may direct to be collected and removed; the undertaking of works of afforestation, terracing and tree planting alongside public roads, and for the purpose of such planting, cut and remove any tree growing within 7 feet of any public road unless the owner of the land bordering such road elects to cut and remove the tree himself within such time as should be fixed by the local authority; the provision and regulation of public markets, fairs and places of public auction; the control, care, management, maintenance, improvement and cleansing of all pavements, drains, bridges, beds and banks of lakes, rivulets and streams; the construction, care, management, maintenance, improvement, cleansing and lighting of squares, open spaces, parks, gardens, bus shelters, public buildings including lavatories, baths and swimming pools, open and dedicated to the use of, or used by the public, not being the property of the State; the construction, management, maintenance and improvement of public libraries, exhibition halls and art galleries, theatres, places of public entertainment, playing fields, cemeteries and cremation grounds, nurseries for infants, pre-primary schools; the provision and maintenance of parking places for private cars; the control of pollution causing a public and private nuisance; the organisation of welfare, sports and cultural activities; |