The budget is a series of unfortunate events - APNU MP

The budget is a series of unfortunate events – APNU MP

Apr 02, 2014 News

A Partnership for National Unity Member of Parliament, Christopher Jones, examined the deficiencies of the 2014 budget during yesterday’s debates and said that Government’s attitude of non-consultation can best be described as “a series of unfortunate events” transcending beyond the setting up of the tripartite budget committee.
He reminded the House that Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, under the caption “Education Grants” had stated, “Government will provide this year, a cash grant to the parents of every child attending nursery, primary, or secondary school in the public education system in the amount of $10,000 per child for the year 2014. This grant can be used to meet such costs as transportation, and will provide added impetus to raising enrolment and attendance rates”

APNU MP
Christopher Jones

Jones said that this sum, calculated to $40 per day for those living on the coast, is not even a short drop via public transportation.
“What about those students living in the hinterland and riverain communities? A case in point is the village of Hackney on the lower Pomeroon River, Region Two, where students travelling via boat are forced to pay as much as $1,000 per day per child from Hackney to Charity.”
The unfortunate event here, Jones said, was that the Government did poor consultation or had no consultation with parents.
“If they did, they would have been told that in riverain communities, a school boat would be their first choice and for those on the coast, school buses are their preference, so the ten thousand dollars will be better put into the wages and salaries of the parents.”

UNEMPLOYMENT
Jones noted that what is also absent in the Minister’s 2014 Budget presentation, “like his 2013 and 2012 presentations”, is “Jobs.”
“One would have expected that when the Government boasts about how much moneys have been spent to train youths, it would have been proud to shout on the mountain top that ‘we the PPP have created thousands of jobs for our young people and this year we are expected to create even more.’”
He added that over the years, it was noted that five government ministries – Amerindian Affairs; Culture, Youth and Sport; Education; Home Affairs and Labour – “continue to jostle each other to offer a variety of glamorous, short-term, ad hoc, training courses for young people. They all promise but do not provide the long-term careers that youths desperately seek.”
The Amerindian Affairs Ministry, for example, in 2013 launched $200M Youth Apprenticeship and Entrepreneur Programme (YAEP). The Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport conducts the Youth Entrepreneurial Skills Training (YEST) programme. The Ministry of Home Affairs offers training in what it calls “life skills” and vocational pursuits under its Citizen Security Programme (CSP).
Also, The Ministry of Labour, through its Board of Industrial Training (BIT) conducts a two-year apprenticeship programme now called the National Training Project for Youth, Empowerment (NTPYE)
All of these programmes, Jones said, attracted millions of the taxpayers’ dollars to be spent, yet “the Minister of Finance can’t even report to the National Assembly on how many jobs have been created…Four out of every ten youths face a jobless future and the PPP/C Administration is still to announce a plan to deal with this crisis of youth unemployment.”

NATIONAL CULTURAL CENTRE
The APNU Member of Parliament then brought to the National Assembly’s attention the state of affairs at the National Cultural Centre (NCC). He said that over the past few months, the NCC has been described as a “hot mess” with its broken AC unit, poor lights, weak audio system, etc.
“We note, however, in this year’s Budget, there is an allocation of $55 million to replace the AC units, lights and audio system. The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, at a press conference, complained about the Centre losing money and that it cannot sustain its operations because, he claims, of its low rentals. Here are a few facts as recently reported by the producers of the popular Link Show.”
Jones said that Mrs. Gem Nascimento of Gems Theatre Productions stated that the NCC charges an $80,000 flat rental for the entire building.
“In addition to the basic rental, the producer pays a surcharge of 20% on all ticket prices, rental of bars, for the printing of tickets, a charge for the use of the producer’s own video camera to film that very producer’s show, for rehearsals, for ushers, for front of house staff and security.
“Calculated on ticket prices of $2000, $1500 and $1000, once there is a full house, a total sum of $2,947,500 is realized. The producer then pays approximately 26% of the gross income to the NCC or a sum of $766,350 plus 16% VAT to the GRA or $471,600. Altogether, 42% of each night of the producer’s gross income is paid over to the Government.”
Jones then said that the amount paid to the Ministry of $766,350 per night for eight nights at minimum amounts to $3,183,300.
“One therefore wonders if the Honourable Minster was misinformed when he said that the NCC is unable to sustain itself or if he was simply being creative with his remarks.”