-Benn grilled
The National Assembly last evening approved the spending of $4.6 billion in supplementary provisions even as PNCR-1G shadow Finance Minister Winston Murray contended that the government was continuing “to raid” the country’s Consolidated Fund.
The Supplementary Appropriation (No.2 for 2009) Bill, which covered Financial Papers No.3 and No.4 of 2009 which were both tabled last Thursday by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, was yesterday approved by the House after several queries by members of the Opposition benches. For the second week in succession, all of the Opposition parties were present at the sitting.
The $1.2 billion additional provision for the roads programme of the Public Works Ministry and the $50 million provision for Office of Climate Change and the Low-Carbon Development Strategy were two of the items that were subjected to much scrutiny. Additionally, the $1.4 billion more for the construction of the Enmore packaging plant and the $10M proposed for the Agriculture Ministry’s efforts to counteract the effect of El Niño in the hinterland regions also stirred great interest in the Opposition benches.
As expected, it was the PNCR-1G MP Murray who directed the majority of the questions and during the debate he participated in a heated exchange with Transport Minister Robeson Benn over the additional sums that had been advanced to his Ministry for its road project. While questioning several government officials about the financial statements, Murray repeatedly stated that the government was “raiding the Consolidated Fund”. This eventually prompted PPP/C MP Gail Teixeira to issue an objection, after which Speaker of the House Ralph Ramkarran urged Murray to use acceptable Parliamentary language.
Murray questioned Benn as to why it was not possible to put into the original provisions the sum that was subsequently granted to him. Initially $670 million was the voted provision, while subsequently $175 million was granted to the Ministry before the most recent allocation of $1.2 billion.
In response, Benn told the National Assembly that the reason for this was an attempt to be “prudent.” He told the House that “while we made large requests to the Ministry of Finance, to the Budgeting Agency, there were issues of prudence in response to what was then an ongoing international financial situation, and how we may come out of this”. “And so we accepted at that point in time that this was what we had to work with and that as we went along we would make use of any opportunity to improve and to optimize on the work that we would be able to do”, he continued.
Murray then called on the Minister to produce a project profile for the works he plans on undertaking. Benn, in response, promised that he would deliver a profile of these projects within two days. He stressed that each proposed project has gone through a systematic process of evaluation to determine its urgency. He said that among the proposed projects is rehabilitation work on the Linden Highway.
Meanwhile AFC MP Sheila Holder queried the lists of roads that he intended to renovate. She also pointed out that according to the Finance Minister’s mid-year report, the Public Works ministry had only completed 22 percent of its work programme.
According to Benn, his ministry proposed to complete several roads in five regions. He noted that 15 roads in Region 2 valued at $ 77m are set to be renovated while in Region 3, 29 roads are scheduled to be renovated at the cost of $242 million. In Regions 4, 5 and 6, the numbers of roads identified to be repaired are 133, 29 and 31 respectively, costing $744 million, $84 million and $130 million respectively.
Benn also said that his Ministry projects that it will complete 95 percent of its work programme based on the original budgetary provisions
This disclosure led Murray to query why the Minister would ask for such substantial additional amounts when the Ministry was unable to fulfill work scheduled in its original provisions.
The Minister stated the some projects have already commenced and will continue into the new year. He said that the road programme was an important one which assisted with development in the country and helped to stimulate the economy. He pointed out that 60 percent of the $ 1.2 billion had already been spent.
Murray then asserted that since the money could not be spent this year it appeared as if the Minister was now working out a schedule for the road projects. He contended that “the money therefore should not have been drawn from the contingency fund since this was for only emergency projects” and called for the money to be returned. “The proper thing to do is to pay back a substantial amount of this money to the Finance Ministry”, he asserted.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh then attempted to clear the air on the issue and told the House that in addition to 95 percent of the projects for the original provisions being implemented, the additional $1.26 billion that was granted has been put to use for additional works.
When the Opposition members pointed out that this was not what Benn had explained to the House, Singh said: “If that is not what he said, then I am saying it now.”
In response, Murray stressed that the Finance Minister was not the executing agency for the projects and therefore lacked the capacity to speak on the matter. He then renewed calls for Benn to return at least 30% of the additional sums required and to make a fresh request next year when his Ministry may be in a better position to execute the road projects.
Meanwhile, AFC MP Khemraj Ramjattan asked Benn to name the persons to whom the additional monies had been paid. Benn responded by saying that there were too many to name, but stated that there were 137 contractors.
Questions were also raised about the $50 million which was advanced from the Contingencies Fund for the establishment of the Office of the Climate Change and the Low Carbon Development Strategy.
Minister within the Finance Ministry Dr Jennifer Webster disclosed that the Office was set up in June and that the $50 million was used to cover expenses, administrative costs associated with hosting the consultations for the Strategy and for the printing of the Strategy Document. The Minister was, however, unable to itemize the breakdown of the expenditure.
When quizzed about the payments of emoluments for these workers, Webster said that the workers had been seconded from other government agencies to work in this office, which structure, she admitted, was still undergoing establishment.
Responding to questions about the $1.4 billion additional funds that were paid out for the Enmore Packaging plant, Finance Minister Dr Singh told the House that the total cost of plant is about $2.4 billion (US $12 million). It is supposed to have a capacity of 40,000 tonnes when completed. He also disclosed that there was no intention to have the Enmore Packaging Plant separated from GuySuCo.
Meanwhile, Singh said that the project is still being essentially funded by the European Union (EU). He explained that grant money from the EU is disbursed into Consolidated Fund and funds are then disbursed in the local budget. Grants from the EU are not tied to a project but to budget support, Singh disclosed.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud assured members of the House that the assistance that will be provided to hinterland communities affected by El Niño is based on work done by a number of technical agencies. He stressed that there was a technical team in place that was examining the various communities and determining those that were most affected by the phenomenon and was recommending assistance as necessary. He, however, stressed that the government was spending over $40 million to address the problem in the hinterland region and that this was being done in a meticulous manner.
