Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Opposition wants breakdown of spending in budgetary relief measures
Kaieteur News – Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton on Thursday reiterated the need for a breakdown in the spending of the $5 billion cost of living relief measures outlined in the 2023 budget.
During his weekly press conference, Norton accused the Government of lumping together the expense of GY$5 billion for cost of living relief in the 2023 National Budget.
Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton
“There are no specifics of how this money will be distributed. They do it because when the time comes to distribute it, they want to be involved in corruption. The aim is to ensure there is no scrutiny and accountability and provide them with a slush fund for them to get richer,” he said.
The Opposition Leader continued, “Government chose to go the route of poor budgeting because it would allow the administration to spend the money for political purposes to avoid detailed oversight.” said.
However, the combined Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) would try its best to be on the ground at the time of disbursement to monitor how that money would be spent although it has not been allocated for specific relief measures.
Last year’s GY$5 billion cost of living relief was disbursed as cash grants to fisher folk, farmers, riverain communities, sugar workers, micro-entrepreneurial support, pensioners and disabled persons. But, the Opposition has been pressing relentlessly for details on who received the grants, even as it has charged that there has been discrimination.
This is not the first time the issue was raised. Last year, Former Finance Minister Winston Jordan spoke to Kaieteur News about the manner in which the cost of living relief money was passed in Parliament.
Jordan is adamant the law does not permit for the budgeting and passing of any “block sum,” for which its purpose or spending is to be determined at a later date.
Even as the sum is being utilised to support citizens through this rough financial period, Jordan insists that the information is “too vague” as Government spending should be transparent, especially with such a large sum of money.
He warned the Opposition to pay more attention to Government spending, and urged that in this case, a Motion be moved in Parliament for government to clearly define its plans for the $5B.
Government after the approval of the 2022 Budget, decided to provide cash grants to citizens in riverain areas, farmers, fishermen and $1B for fertilizers, among other initiatives but this was not specified during the budget debates.
Jordan explained that even if Government wanted money to deal with the cost of living as an emergency, they did not have to include that sum in the budget since there is a Contingency Fund that allows for spending in unforeseen circumstances.
The cost of living issues were known and the Government ought to have identified their intentions, Jordan insisted.
“They knew what was happening, they knew all these things and so it should have been highlighted by item,” the former Minister stated.
Additionally, it is unclear under which item heading the relief fund fell. If the money was placed under a different heading, approved in the budget and is now being used for the stated cost of living relief, then this would be contrary to what the law states, Jordan maintains.
He was of the view, if Government had the cost of living relief money for agriculture, health or any other area, it should have been under those headings. The only anonymous heading in the budget, Jordan advised, is that pertaining to wages and salaries, “every other item must be identified to be debated on.”
- A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Alliance For Change (AFC), Aubrey Norton, Government, Opposition Leader
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