Georgetown: “We are paying dearly for the PPP’s failure to do feasibility studies,” so said Finance Minister Winston Jordan during Friday’s budget debates. He was referring to the claims made by the Opposition that $600Million was budgeted for various feasibility studies in the 2109 Budget.
The Minister cited the US$200Million lost through the Skeldon Factory; the US$45 Million used for the Amalia Falls road and millions lost through the attempted construction of the Specialty Hospital.
“We have to create a Project Bank of projects that have had studies done and not look for money for projects that have had no studies done,” Minister Jordan remarked.
He noted that a safety zone was breached with the Linden Soesdyke Highway which was initially rehabilitated in 1993 by the PPP/C Government. The Finance Minister noted that, now, with billions cited to link Linden to Lethem Road, and the accompanying traffic, proper studies were needed to ensure the poorly rehabilitated road was actually structurally sound, and how much work would be needed.
These projects will have to go through a rigorous election process to ascertain if funds should be spent, Minister Jordan indicated. The Mon Repos Market was another example that grant money was spent on a facility that no-one actually wanted. The Finance Minister reminded that the market built at a cost of several million dollars is still under-used. “Feasibility studies are a fact of life and will remain so for this government.”
Meanwhile, in defending budget 2019 before the National Assembly, Finance Minister Winston Jordan noted it is the third to be presented before year end. He said that a budget presented in November in 1975 for the year 1976, was the only one presented earlier than this year’s budget.
This move has been welcomed by the private sector after initial reservations, he noted. The Finance Minister explained that a budget was about policies and numbers and how it is melded to create a good life.
He stated that Finance Minister move to present budgets at the beginning of the fiscal year to enable better spending and accountability of resources allocated.
Budget 2019 is the fifth in almost four years for the Coalition Government since taking office. This year’s budget of $300.7 billion is the largest ever presented to the National Assembly was presented under the theme, “Transforming the people, Empowering the people, Building sustainable communities for the Good Life.”
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