Despite presenting a $552.9 billion “historic” and “transformational” 2022 budget in January, the Irfaan Ali government is now asking the National Assembly to approve $44,794,011,175 in supplementary provisions.
Financial paper No 1 of 2022 was tabled in the House yesterday by Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh and will be considered at the next sitting.
The government is seeking $12,239,279,235 under its current programmes and $32,554,731,940 to cater for capital works.
Last week, at the National Toshaos Conference (NTC), President Ali announced a $3 billion supplementary budget to address issues that are affecting indigenous communities. The announcement was made after Indigenous Leaders were asked to identify issues affecting their communities and formulate plans to solve those.
The majority of the money will go towards addressing issues in education, health or agriculture. From the allocation, some $250 million will be dedicated to youth empowerment projects.
According to the financial paper, the government is seeking $3.116 billion to be added to the Amerindian Development Fund. The allocation, according to the reasoning, will be dedicated to the provision of additional resources to support indigenous and hinterland communities. Over $1.8 billion was allocated under the Amerindian Development Fund in the 2022 budget.
The Ministry of Housing and Water is requesting $21 billion which is the largest supplemental provision. Of that amount, $15.9 billion will be going to facilitate infrastructural works in new and existing housing areas. The government has been rapidly announcing the establishment of new housing developments. Additionally, the Ministry is seeking $250.2 million to facilitate the completion of water supply interventions in hinterland areas; $4.231 billion to cater for additional upgrading of coastal water supply infrastructure as well as extending service to unserved and underserved areas; and $660 million to replace ageing and deteriorated pipelines within George-town.
The Ministry of Agriculture is seeking $5,490,366,235 in additional financing for the execution of its programmes. Of that amount, the largest chunk will go to the embattled Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). According to the government, GuySuCo will be given $1.4 billion for the “provision of additional resources to support the sugar industry” and another $2 billion for operational expenses.
In the 2022 budget, GuySuCo received $6 billion to support its operations. Since taking office in August 2020, the PPP/C government has injected over $17 billion into GuySuCo after campaigning heavily on resuscitating the sugar industry following the closure of several estates by the APNU+AFC government. Despite the constant injection of finances into the operations of the sugar corporation, there continues to be issues with the latest being a shortage of sugar on the local market. Despite denying such shortage, the government has now begun offering sugar through the Guyana Marketing Corporation and that too in rationed quantities.
In addition to GuySuCo, the Agriculture Ministry is also seeking $1.278 billion for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), $44.1 million for the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) and $218.9 million to cover additional operational expenses at the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary- Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA).
Additionally, $177.7 million is being sought for the furtherance of the black belly sheep project. Earlier in the year, President Ali launched the black belly sheep project where 1000 sheep will be imported from Barbados. The project was launched in Region Five and some 78 farmers are said to be onboard.
Some $300 million is now being sought to provide additional resources to “promote agriculture development initiatives including support to the fisherfolks.” Government has also requested $40 million to further promote its “food security agenda.”
President Ali has been talking about making Guyana a medical tourism destination and collaborating with Mount Sinai International to further improve the country’s healthcare infrastructure. In that regard, the Ministry of Health is seeking $332.6 million to further collaborate with Mount Sinai.
The Office of the Prime Minister is seeking $50 million for the provision of additional resources to support new developmental and humanitarian initiatives “emanating from government’s continued engagements with residents and other key stakeholders countrywide.”
The Ministry of Finance is requesting an additional $4 billion to cover electricity costs along with $2 billion to support the Bureau of Statistics’ 2022 population census. $40.5 million is being sought for the completion of the Ministry of Finance’s annex building on Croal Street.
The sum of $1.296 billion is being requested by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development for the facilitation of new infrastructural development and the support of regional economic transformation programmes.
Government, in 2021, launched the GOAL scholarship programme and has since increased its offerings. In that regard, the Ministry of Public Service is asking for an additional provision of $250 million. This is in addition to the $2.8 billion that was allocated in the 2022 budget.
Another $4.439 billion is being sought by the Ministry of Public Works for a number of projects. Among them, $233 million for fixing identified defects during the ongoing project to rehabilitate 28 pontoons; $525 million for the advancement of preliminary works to support the East Bank-East Coast road linkage project; $3 billion for the upgrading of miscellaneous roads and drains; $550 million for the completion of the critical sea and river defence works along with new works to address areas of erosion along the Mahaicony shoreline; and $131.5 million for the acquisition of spare parts to complete the rehabilitation of various ferry vessels.
On June 17, the government announced that all persons living with permanent disabilities as well as those with HIV and cancer patients will now benefit from lifetime public assistance. The announcement was made by Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud. To facilitate that, the ministry is seeking a supplemental provision of $700 million.
The Ministry of Education is seeking $307 million to facilitate the construction of a new primary school on the Essequibo River island of Wakenaam and procurement of school furniture for a number of secondary schools. The Arthurville Primary School on Wakenaam Island is currently closed due to it being deemed inhospitable and the 60 students have been relocated to San Souci Primary until the completion of the new building. The ministry expects to spend $27.3 million to construct the new building.
The Ministry of Legal Affairs is also asking for a supplementary provision of $100 million to cover additional legal fees. This is in addition to the $122 million that was allocated in the 2022 budget.
The Guyana Defence Force is asking for an additional $157.8 million to “facilitate the advance payment for the acquisition of a helicopter to enhance the operational capabilities of the Guyana Defence Force.” Additionally, the GDF also requested $277.9 million for the facilitation of maintenance of its King Air 350 Beechcraft to “increase aerial operational capacity.”
The GDF was flagged by the Auditor General for breaching the Procurement Act when it sole-sourced the Bell 412 EPI helicopter and signed the contract before approval was granted by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). The helicopter was purchased for US$9.5 million and US$500,000 was paid as miscellaneous fees. The Bell 412 EPI which was acquired new and has a seating capacity of 13 persons, was received by the GDF on March 15, 2021.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is also seeking $860.4 million to facilitate a number of its projects.
This request for supplemental funding comes just about six months after the government presented its 2022 budget. Budget 2022 was 44.3% larger than the $383.1 billion 2021 budget.
