HONIARA CITY Council has been hit hard with financial hiccups over the past months, affecting its operations.

According to information gathered from certain Council officers, they revealed Council is in a very difficult financial situation that affects it service deliveries.

This is obvious with poor service deliveries such as refuse collection, enforcement of Council by-laws and ordinances and also health and educational services to meet the rising demand of the city.

Two weeks ago, direct employees of Council issued a 28-day strike notice for claims Council had failed to meet; their wages in time, plus other entitlements.

Deputy City Clerk Fred Warereau, when asked, confirms Council is struggling to meet its obligations because of the financial situation it had gone through.

Warereau said this is not a new problem though, but said that they have put in measures to try and improve and solve this problem.

Adding, it is a common problem that has also been faced by previous executives, so too any organisation for that matter.

The Deputy Clerk said Council has spent a lot during last year’s election and also tries to meet its outstanding dues left by the past administration, and this has put Council in a really tough financial position.

He stressed that the failure of the government to release Council’s budgetary support for the final quarter last year also has a great impact on Council finances.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Clerk said since coming into office, he is working together with the current administration to put records straight.

Adding, records for financial years of 2011, 2012 and 2013 should be ready before the end of the year for auditing purposes.

Warereau said financial records of Council is in a mess and needs to be properly recorded and reconciled for auditing purposes.

He further adds that Council needs stringent measures to be put in place on how its finances are managed.

He stressed that these measures will help the administration and political arm of Council to work together more closely and understand where their boundaries are and where to draw their line.

He said proper management and improved capacity is important to ensure expectations of the public on Council are met, and to ensure operations of Council are running without hiccups as experienced in the past until now.

“There must be a change to the current culture of working habit and way of doing things within Council. Breaking this barrier will make positive changes in Council’s operations. But breaking such cultures will obviously not welcomed by the majority who have been used to such culture. But to progress we need to change this culture for the good of Council,” Warereau added.