Parliament will on Wednesday begin debating supplementary estimates of EC$83.9 million to provide for addition spending required because of the Christmas 2013 floods.
The monies are in addition to the EC$911 million “interim” budget that lawmakers approved in January.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who is also Minister of Finance, said on Saturday that the supplementary estimates include almost EC$21 million for the Ministry of Housing, more than EC$50 for the Ministry of Works for both capital and recurrent expenditure, and EC$6 million for the Ministry of Agriculture.
“I have gathered pieces of money from all about, but some of the big money which I get, I can’t spend them this year,” he told the election anniversary celebration rally of the ruing Unity Labour Party.
“For instance, from the world bank, we have negotiated EC$100 million. The project for those [monies], we have to do the engineering designs. We will only spend a little bit of that money this year, but the bulk of that money I will spend next year and 2016,” Gonsalves further said.
“I can’t raise that money there and leave that money there for NDP to spend,” he said in reference to the opposition New Democratic Party during the speech in which he again signalled that election will be called ahead of the December 2015 deadline.
(Read also: Gonsalves again hints at snap elections)
Gonsalves further said that over EC$30 million is pending from the Canadian Development Bank and EC$20 million from the European Union for disaster relief.
He also said that Minister of Foreign Affairs Sen. Camillo Gonsalves has negotiated a further EC$13 million from Mexico.
A trough system on Christmas Eve left EC$330 million in damage to housing, infrastructure and agriculture, according to government estimates. The World Bank estimates the damage at just under EC$300 million.
Nine persons also died and three remain missing as a result of the extreme weather.
That rounds it up to about a billion when added to the budget, with an income that barely covers overseas travelling for the ULP mob leaders.
What happened to all the money supposedly donated by countries as aid? how much was that and where is it? Name it all, not just some of it, all of it.
And openly say we got nothing from all our socialist friends, your socialist friends.
How come we did not get a red cent from the Cubans, Venezuelans, the ALBA or its membership. Just the Americans, British and EU. and some island states like TT etc., so why do we want to replace them with all those others that don’t pay us a red cent.
Debt piled on debt piled on debt piled on debt …