$1.1B Amerindian Development Fund

was for uncontrolled vote buying

…there still remains in the 2014 Budget a lot of fat -Chris Ram

The $1.1B that the parliamentary opposition did not approve was said to be used under the Amerindian Development Fund was exposed as money for uncontrolled vote-buying in the Amerindian communities.
The money had nothing to do with capital expenditure.

Financial Analyst Christopher Ram

This is according to Financial Analyst, Christopher Ram, who in his review of the recent budget which was reduced by $37B, said that as it relates to that $1.1B fund, “when the window was opened on the projects, (the projects) melted like fat from pork exposed to the sun.”
According to Ram, “Not surprisingly, none of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Ministers seemed in the least bit embarrassed at being caught red-handed, even as they abused some bemused Amerindians to picket the National Assembly.”
According to the project profile for the use of the $1.1B as was set out by the Ministry of Finance, the money would be used to secure the livelihood and youth entrepreneurship apprenticeship programmes; construction of village officers and multi-purpose buildings; purchase of sports gear, musical instruments, drip irrigation systems, tractor and implements; support to other projects and programmes including eco-tourism.
Ram in his analysis noted that collaterally, $42.5M for water and land transport and acquisition of furniture and equipment under the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs was also not approved.
In his continued analysis of the expenditures Ram wrote that the surprises at some of the non-approvals were probably matched by some of the items that were approved.
“The state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), an entity with no Board of Directors, a history of violations of the law requiring the publication of financial statements, and a future awash with red ink, was given a further $6B as a subsidy for 2014; the Commerce, Industry and Consumer Affairs Ministry was allocated $1B for an as yet undefined programme to support enterprise development initiatives while the Ministry of Finance got a pass on an allocation of $4.4B for unspecified Other Employment Costs, a re-designation of the line item previously described as Revision Of Wages and Salaries.”
According to Ram, GuySuCo placed the Opposition on the horns of a dilemma.
He said that while they knew the money would continue to finance poor governance, lack of accountability and a hopelessly managed and structured entity, the Parliamentary Opposition, and mainly the Alliance For Change (AFC), could not dare to not approve the budget provision for the sugar corporation.
“No one, it seems, was prepared to say to GuySuCo no more money until it accounts for what the Assembly had given it in prior years.”
Ram suggested that if the country is going to drain money into GuySuCo, use at least half of that money to pay severance for a few thousand workers and allow them to pursue other employment of their choice and the rest for a serious restructuring of the industry.
Ram posits that “in two to three years we could have a streamlined, profitable enterprise.”
According to Ram, A Partner for National Unity (APNU), while it harbours legitimate doubts about the spending of previous multi-billion dollar allocations for Revision of Wages and Salaries, it would have found itself at the mercy of the government propaganda machinery – GINA/NCN – if it had dared to not approve the line item for Other Employment Costs.
“APNU’s problem is that it knows that some part of the allocation will go to revision of wages and salaries of public sector employees, the majority of whom it may consider supporters.”
He said, too, that APNU with its perceived emphasis for a stronger and more effective Police Force should probably explain why it would approve a twenty-fold increase in the capital allocation for Community Policing while the Police Force receives a reduction under the same budget.
A point to note is that when the allocations for the Ministry of Home Affairs came up for a vote, not a single question was posed to the subject minister.
Ram in his analysis said too that the $1B allocation for Enterprise development initiatives without a clear institutional mechanism and criteria for accessing these funds defies all logic, economics and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act.
In addition to the allocations referred to, there still remains in the 2014 Budget a lot of fat, according to Ram, “and one has to assume that the thirty-three opposition members of the National Assembly lost concentration or commitment when the items came up for concentration.”
According to Ram, Dr. Frank Anthony and Minister Irfaan Ali must be smiling at the amount of funds at their disposal for their discretionary spendthrift ways.