Where did the $$ go? Caller disappointed in Gov’t for past 4 years
It was on May 6, 2019 during the show NDP Radio aired on ZBVI 780 AM that a caller let the party know his disappointment.
According to the male caller, for the past four years the Government of the Virgin Islands had budgets averaging over $300M, which would have totaled over $1B over the 4-year period.
Where the money gone?
According to the caller, with that kind of money there should have been much more money in the Consolidated Fund and there should have been much more projects executed.
“How come we don’t have a resource centre in the BVI? How come we don’t have a proper airport? Why we don’t have better ports? Why we don’t have better roads?”
The caller went on to say he understood that in the last three years before the general elections on February 25, 2019 there was not enough money to support education and particularly for granting scholarship to H. Lavity Stoutt Community College.
“We didn’t have any money for scholarships… Something just didn’t add up.”
According to the caller the Virgin Islands, despite its small population, presents one of the largest budgets among the Caribbean islands but yet there is not much to show for it.
Manage recurrent expenditure better- Hon Marlon A. Penn
Responding to the caller, Opposition Leader Honourable Marlon A. Penn (R8) noted it is a frustration many share.
He added that one of the challenges is the cost of doing business in the Virgin Islands. This he said means the recurrent expenditure leaves little left for development.
In 2018 the then NDP administration announced a budget of $299.5M with a recurrent expenditure of $352.8M, a shortfall of over $50M.
According to Honourable Penn, the cost for running Government is too high.
Sending persons home not the ‘answer’
“We have to find a way to better manage the recurrent expenditure of the country. And the answer can’t just be sending persons home. We have to find a way to make the Government more efficient and we have done the work to make that happen.”
One of the ways Hon Penn believes the recurrent expenditure can be better managed is through E-Government.
“One of the ways we have looked at is through E-Government, through online services. We have developed the policies and the framework. This is why the Government was recently talking about the consolidation that is happening at Immigration and Labour. That is going to create more productivity in the labour market as persons now don’t have to come to Labour [Department] and lose a whole day of productivity.”
Hon Penn reiterated that a lot of the recurrent expenditure is through “inefficient operation and inefficient processes.”
On April 2, 2019 the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Government announced a national budget of $427,657.383, which includes $331,742,666 on recurrent expenditures.
Meanwhile, the other persons on the NDP Radio show were Sixth District Representative Hon Alvera Maduro-Caines, host and NDP member Aaron F. Parillon and former President of the National Democratic Party (NDP) Youth Movement Mr Devin George.
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14 Responses to “Where did the $$ go? Caller disappointed in Gov’t for past 4 years”
we will never for get the pass so yo stay there with that sh*t!!!