Former Correctional Services boss Linda Mti‚ who was in charge of security during the 2010 Soccer World Cup‚ has been given the nod by the Nelson Mandela Bay council as the metro’s new head of safety and security. Mti’s appointment was approved during the closed session of Thursday’s council meeting.It is understood that the Democratic Alliance (DA) did not support his appointment because of an ongoing investigation by the Hawks into alleged fraud linked to close to R2-billion worth of tenders awarded to the Bosasa group between 2004 and 2006‚ while Mti was with Correctional Services.Mti has a wealth of experience in security as a former national commissioner.He also spent five years as an intelligence coordinator for the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee.He will ultimately be in charge of ensuring that the long-awaited metro police service gets off the ground.Meanwhile‚ the municipality backtracked on Thursday on its previous report that it needs R15.5-million to fund the start of the metro police‚ saying it now needs only R7.4-million.This is after money was found in the current 2015-16 budget of the safety and security department to launch the system next month.A pilot service will be launched in Helenvale and Motherwell.The municipality’s budget and treasury department submitted a report to the council which detailed the budgets that should be slashed to fund the service – including R2.55-million from the electricity and energy department‚ R717 325 from public health and R596 053 from water services.The departments still have to establish the implications of the cuts.DA councillor Gustav Rautenbach raised concerns at the council meeting that the city was rushing the project through‚ even though staff were not fully trained.He said his party was “110% in favour” of a metro police service‚ but he was afraid the municipality was setting it up for failure.“The mayor is always saying we have R1-billion in the bank‚ so why do we need to cut further into the bone if we have that money?” he said.Another DA councillor‚ Retief Odendaal‚ said sending metro police members into dangerous areas without proper training was not wise. -“We commend that there has been progress‚ but it’s running at a pace that‚ if we cut corners‚ it would come back to haunt us‚” Odendaal said.“The metro police cannot be a public relations exercise.”African National Congress (ANC) councillor Lawrence Troon said the metro police would enforce by-laws‚ not fight gangsterism.ANC councillor Fikile Desi said acting city manager Johann Mettler would ensure all the administrative issues were ironed out. – TMG Digital/The Herald..