Opposition to vote against unapproved $4.6B gov’t spending

Joseph Harmon

The parliamentary opposition yesterday signaled that it will not approve government’s $4.6 billion excess expenditure from the Consolidated Fund when it comes up for a vote at the next parliamentary sitting.

APNU executive Joseph Harmon and AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan both said their respective groups, which command a combined one-seat majority in the National Assembly, would not supply the needed votes to approve the $4,553,991 in supplemental spending.

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh last week tabled government’s Financial Paper for the expenditure, which covers allocations cut from the proposed 2014 national budget. Of the total amount, $66.4 million went to the Government Information Agency (GINA), $32.6 to the National Communication Network (NCN) and $306 million to the controversial Amerindian Development Fund (ADF). Additionally, $225 million went