Parliament’s Committee of Supply on Tuesday passed the Ministry of Agriculture’s 2015 Budget of $20.89B inclusive of the $52M price tag attached to the Commission of Inquiry into the sugar industry which will be providing an interim report on its findings sometime next month.
The revelation that the COI will cost the government $52M will finally answer the longstanding question as to who will be footing the bill for the comprehensive analysis into the industry that is set to determine the way forward for the sector inclusive of possible divestment of the Guyana Sugar Corporation.
When the COI was first being touted by the APNI+AFC coalition prior to the general and regional elections in May, party members were adamant that the cost would be the responsibility of the Guyana Sugar Corporation, even though GuySuCo is heavily indebted.
The passing of the Agriculture budget was done in the wee hours of Tuesday morning before the first session of the Committee of Supply drew to a close at roughly 03:00hrs. At the commencement of the consideration of estimates for the Agriculture Ministry, Minister Noel Holder was without many technical staffers and as a result had to promise to provide answers to questions at a later time.
PPP/C projects such as the procurement of pumps by the Indian company Surendra and the Hope Canal scheme have been carried over with unresolved questions. Holder told the House that while he was unable to provide a breakdown of the planned $2B capital expenditure he would do so at a later date.
While the agriculture ministry allocation was passed by the Committee of Supply along with the Office of the Prime Minister, the various Constitutional Commissions were discussed but their allocations not passed as a decision was made by the House to delay voting until these bodies were placed in a separate table as had been agreed on Monday.
