Hon Penn slams Gov’t over unspent budgeted monies
Hon Penn, who added that the economy remains sluggish, made the statements during an Opposition press conference yesterday, March 19, 2024.
“We are four months in, almost four months into this year, and it was uncovered a few months ago in the House of Assembly, that our government in the last [financial] cycle, allowed at a minimum over $50 million that was budgeted and collected that should have gone towards development of our economy to go back to the treasury and go unused.”
He added, “This is $50 million that could be used to deal with a failing dilapidated public infrastructure. This is money that should have been used to address the water woes that people within our constituencies and this entire territory complain about year after year."
Hon Penn’s comments come even as Opposition Members have long accused the Government of spending too much on tourism events and travel.
He added that the money saved could have gone into other areas like drains and waterways and encourage economic activity on the ground.
Place unkempt in middle of tourism season - Hon Penn
“We're in the middle of the tourism season, in the middle of the season, yet the place is unkempt, as one taxi driver told me on the beach the other day that the bush is pulling the tourists out of their bus when they are going through the communities,” he said.
“So we are well on our way to allowing more monies to go back into the treasury and we're no closer to addressing the failing infrastructure in this territory,” he said.
Hon Penn accused this government of having no plan and lacking the capacity to get the work done, while people and businesses suffer.
Since taking office, the Government has undertaken a massive infrastructure project to properly repair roads and other infrastructure across the VI; however, the public has been asking for more to be done.
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15 Responses to “Hon Penn slams Gov’t over unspent budgeted monies”
Don't spend = is a problem
damned if you don't!
Hon. Penn need to understand how the system works and stop the noise, not because a ministry/department have budgetary allocation means that the Treasury Department have readily available funds. Until these politicians understand how the system works, stop making yourself an @$$ in the public eyes and shut your mouth. I honestly feel Ministry of Finance need to provide them training in their first term so they can understand what goes on, the processes, any changes etc to eliminate these repetitive unethical practices that have been happening over the years.