There’s now additional funding for public defenders to represent people who can’t afford attorneys, money for Fire Service tenders, police vehicles, to subsidise gas and diesel costs, for the Children’s Authority and the Tobago House of Assembly.
This comes after the House of Representatives passed Government’s supplemental funding of $3.8 billion towards the 2023 Budget to fund these areas and others in 22 divisions late Wednesday night.
Money will be taken from the Consolidated Fund to be put to the Infrastructural Fund. A bill on the supplemental funding was also passed - including with United National Congress support.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert, winding up debate, however, trashed earlier UNC complaints about giving the supplemental funding. He pointed out the funding was for services the UNC always complained about.
He listed where some of the extra funding will assist, asking if the UNC was opposed to the following:
• $14 million for the Legal Aid and Advisory to have public defenders for people who can’t afford attorneys.
• $62M for the Children’s Authority - the highest ever allocated to the authority since inception
• $600M to subsidise gas and diesel.
• $100M for TTPS vehicles,
• $100M for the THA to handle infrastructural issues.
• $105M to pay contractors for building schools; other funds to pay suppliers.
• $78M for the Arima and Point Fortin Hospitals.
• $103M for construction work on the Hasely Crawford and Dwight Yorke Stadiums
• $16M for the Desperados Pan Theatre.
• $4M for Fire Service equipment and tenders, $2M for helmets.
• $300M-plus for regional health authorities to pay suppliers for medicines, oxygen, other supplies.
• $160M for the Local Government Ministry for all corporations, including for PoS City Corporation workers’ backpay and increased salaries.
• $167M for desilting rivers, drainage and landslip repairs, road rehabilitation.
• 19M regarding the deficit on the ferry service
• $314M for more senior citizens’ pensions, $14M for public assistance grants, $19M for disability grants.
• $134M for COVID emergency loan.
• VAT refund payments will total $6B, after the PNM inherited a $5B VAT refund debt from the PP government.
Imbert asked, “Are (UNC) opposed to the Children’s Authority getting more funding? Don’t they want people to get grants and assistances? Must we leave the Hasley Crawford like that? Is it that they don’t want Despers to get a pan theatre?
“Do they want ferry fares to increase? Don’t they want the Fire Services to get equipment? Shouldn’t we pay contractors - the UNC is speaking out of both sides of their mouth!”
Imbert noted that Government will spend $1.6B on the fuel subsidy, more than the $1B Government had said it would spend. He said cash is the lifeblood of industry and T&T’s finances are in much better place now than before.
Slamming UNC’s talk on “deficit” budget, he said the UNC did the same and it was time to spend some money, as people had been “holding on for too long.” He noted the projected deficit in the Budget last October was $800m by end of March. But in March 2023, it was $560m.
“So, the actual outturn is better than anticipated,” Imbert said.
In brief debate on a bill for the supplemental funding, UNC MP Roodal Moonilal called for attention to 375 TTPS vehicles requiring repairs, which he said were at Camp Cumuto and various police stations. He sought attention to CCTV cameras, claiming out of the 17,96 cameras, some 46 per cent of these in Trinidad and 52 per cent in Tobago were down.
Imbert interjected on Moonilal’s remarks about issues outside of the bill.
“This is not a pappy show - irrelevant, insulting, disorderly!” Imbert said.