$584M in supplementary provisions sought for Bermine, Linmine revamping
Stabroek News
March 1, 2003
The sum of $584.4M of the $1.3B in supplementary provisions on the current and capital estimates being sought by the Minister of Finance under Financial Paper No 2 is to meet the additional cost of restructuring Linmine and Bermine and the payment of community power for Linmine for November and December.
The sum is in addition to the $1.5B that was allocated to this head under the capital estimates in the National Budget last year.
Minister of Finance Saisnarine Kowlessar tabled the request for supplementary provisions in the National Assembly on February 19 together with requests for $5B under Financial Paper No 3 and $3.9M under Financial Paper No 1.
Other significant requests in Paper No 2 include the provision of an additional $309M to pay arrears for electricity for the Ministry of Finance ($150M), and to meet the shortfall in funds for the payment of salary and wages increases to public servants ($135M) and for the payment of pension increases ($24M). The $309M requested is in addition to the $2.1B that had been allocated in the National Budget for these payments.
Also in Paper No 2 were requests to meet a shortfall in funds under the current estimates for security services totalling $64.1M for the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and the Regional Administrations of Regions 1,3,4,5,6 and 10.
Under Financial Paper No. 1 $1.15B of the of the $1.5B being sought for capital expenditure is to facilitate foreign inflows for bridges and sea defence works for West Coast Berbice being carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications, the Guyana Education Access and Guyana Basic Education Training Projects of the Ministry of Education, and the Water Supply Improvement Project of the Ministry of Housing and Water. The supplementary provisions are in addition to the $2.6B allocated for these projects in the National Budget for 2002.
Under the current estimates in this paper an additional $3.8B is being sought to facilitate the processing of GRDB cheques pertaining to Rice Levy A. The budgetary allocation under this head was $1.8B.
Under Financial Paper No. 3, the Minister is seeking a further $3.8M to facilitate the last disbursement for the Georgetown/Soesdyke/Rosignol Highway in addition to the $73M that was allocated in the Budget and the $5M supplementary provision that had been sought before.
