THE impact of the budget cuts instituted by the Parliamentary Opposition, using their combined one-seat majority, has deepened, as employees at the constitutional body, the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), have lost their jobs, while contracted employees, public officers and employees of other agencies continue to work without the assurance of being paid for this month. The ERC was born out of the Constitutional Reform Process initiated in the 1990s.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) and Secretary to the Cabinet, Dr. Roger Luncheon, made this disclosure yesterday at the Office of the President during his weekly post-cabinet press conference.
The HPS pointed out that the outcome of the court case on the challenge by the government of the legality of the budget cuts will be on July 3, which will be long past the pay day for this month.
Dr Luncheon noted too the marked silence on the loss of jobs as a result of the budget cuts, by the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA).
He also observed that those who have been sympathetic to the budget cuts and have now realised the implications are now saying that the situation could be remedied through supplementary financial provisions.
On this note, Dr. Luncheon said that Financial Paper No. 9, which came up for discussion in the National Assembly yesterday, could become the ultimate tool to undo the budget cuts, and that the handling of this issue by the Parliamentary Opposition could be an acid test of their will and commitment to have it resolved.
He explained, in relation to supplementary financial provisions, the Constitution allows for the Finance Minister to incur financial expenditure without prior approval, recalling that in the history of the parliament there has been a refusal to authorise expenditure under supplementary provisions.
Following the presentation of a $192.8M national budget by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, the Parliamentary Opposition used their combined one-seat majority to slash it by over $21 billion, which included massive cuts in funds allocated for projects under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), the Office of the President and several other agencies.