The combined opposition this evening voted in Parliament against $224.4 million in allocations for the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit, the Ethnic Relations Commission and the State Planning Secretariat.
The cuts were to allocations under the Ministry of Finance. The cuts reduced the allocations to each of those agencies to $1 each. The motion proposing the amendments was in the name of Carl Greenidge of APNU.
Reacting to the cut to CANU’s $20 million allocation, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said the actions of the Opposition came at a bad time and will send the wrong signal internationally. He said the money was meant to help the body build capacity in the drug fight. This includes a move from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Minister in the Ministry of Finance Juan Edghill was vociferous in his condemnation of the opposition for reducing the allocation of the ERC from $99.45 million to $1. He said the vote will affect the people of Guyana who depend on the services of the ERC secretariat which may not be able to function without the allocation. Edghill was formerly Chairman of the ERC.
The allocation for the State Planning Commission in the amount of $105 million has been cut down to $1.
Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh said he had expected discourse on the issues would have allowed the Opposition to have a change of heart about the allocations.
“There are no words to describe the actions of the [Opposition]. It disappoints me to put it mildly,” he said.
