APNU MP Joseph Harmon is asking government to give a figure for its advertisement campaign on the opposition budget cuts on the state-owned National Communica-tions Network (NCN).
In a question on the Order Paper for the sitting of the National Assembly on July 13, 2012,
Harmon has asked Minis-ter of Finance Dr Ashni Singh to state how much money has been paid by the government to NCN between March 31, 2012 and June 18, 2012, for advertisements relative to the consequences of the budget cuts. In addition, Harmon has also asked Singh to state the name, agency, designation, and salary of persons whose employment were terminated as a direct consequence of the cuts.
The ads on NCN accuse the opposition APNU and AFC of voting against development by virtue of the decision to reduce the budget by over $20 billion.
Among the agencies affected by the reduction was NCN, for which a subvention was reduced to $1, after it was revealed to the National Assembly that the network raked in over $500 million in advertising revenues last year. NCN’s finances have since been the subject of an internal probe.
Harmon is also seeking answers from Minister of Works Robeson Benn on whether sanctions have been levied against BK Inter-national for ongoing woes at the Supenaam Stelling.
One of two supporting pontoons intended for the Supenaam stelling became entangled with the berthing piles at Parika and remained submerged with the rising of the tide last Saturday. It was salvaged on Sunday morning and towed to Supenaam for inspection and subsequent installation at that facility. BK subsequently said that the pontoon was handed over to the ministry in “good order”. The mishap will set back works to accommodate the new Chinese ferries by up to one month.
Harmon is also asking Benn to provide the National Assembly with contracts that are being undertaken by BK International Inc that are under the supervision of the Ministry of Works, the completion date of the contracts and the present state of completeness of the projects.
Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, also of APNU, also has a barrage of questions listed for the sitting directed at Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud. Roopnaraine is seeking to find out, given the impending ban on the mercury trade, what transition programme is being put in place to mitigate impacts on the small scale and medium scale miners who have traditionally utilised mercury as their sole processing option.
Roopnaraine is also asking the minister to say what are the environmental and health risks assessments which have been performed to determine the optimal alternative to mercury amalgamation. Further, he is asking the minister to provide to the National Assembly with the results of environmental and health risks assessment for the emissions associated with Bosai’s Linden operations.
He asks whether there is air quality monitoring being done in Linden, and if so, what are the results. “Does the Environmental Protection Agency plan to have Bosai deploy an air quality network in Linden? If not, please indicate why? Who at the EPA is qualified to provide regulatory oversight for air quality? Please indicate both the qualifications and experience in regulatory oversight for air quality.”
Roopnaraine is also asking the minister why the Environmental Assessment Board does not adhere to the rules and procedures as outlined in the document titled ‘Environmental Impact Assessment Rules and Procedures,’ who the members of the Environmental Assessment Board are and whether there are members from state agencies on the board.
