Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 02, 2015 News
Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon expressed yesterday that the absence of an Appropriation
Act may very well be the reason why government has not been able to honour its promise of granting a scholarship to a top performer at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).
Elisa Hamilton had expressed much dissatisfaction with the manner in which government is dealing with the matter and had told the media that at least if there are changes, students should be informed.
The Queen’s College student who earned 19 Grade One passes and a Grade Two pass at the CSEC examinations last year was promised a government scholarship which would allow her to attend a University of her choice.
She desired to pursue studies in medicine at Yale University but Hamilton was later served with some sad news. The ambitious young woman, who was recognized as the most outstanding candidate in the Caribbean region, received a notice from Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Ministry Hydar Ally, informing her that she can apply to pursue studies in engineering, dentistry and medicine in Guyana, China or Cuba.
This is of course in stark contrast with what Minister of Education , Priya Manickchand had said in May 2013 that “President Donald Ramotar informed that the two top performers at CSEC and the two top performers at CAPE would be beneficiaries of government scholarships to pursue studies at universities of their choice in any field.”
But Dr. Luncheon has promised to look into the matter in order to determine why government did not follow through on its commitment to the top CSEC student.
The Cabinet Secretary said that he is aware that the Ministries of Finance, Education and Public Service had indeed lived up to its 2014 obligations but would want to believe that 2015 is a “different kettle of fish.”
He explained that in the absence of an Appropriation bill, the Executive cannot exceed the one twelfth of the expenditure of the annual budget, and with that limited resource available, some things would not be honoured.
“I would want to assume that Hamilton has probably fallen into that category. My office is replete with such complaints with agencies that are not serviced and they write asking for subvention but I would advise that it’s not within my authority and there isn’t an Appropriation Act,” said Dr. Luncheon.
He said that until the Eleventh Parliament is convened and a budget passed, those expenditures would not be met and so a holding pattern would be in place.
The Cabinet Secretary also said that he would follow up on the issue because he is also aware of other instances where students on scholarships abroad are unable to receive their stipend because of the absence of an Appropriation Act and no sitting Parliament.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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