THE sub-committee of the Parliamentary Committee of Supply, currently reviewing in detail the 2014 budgetary allocations, has met once since it was set up, according to Government Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira.

The sub-committee was set up on Wednesday to be the body that would negotiate contentious allocations, and was the suggestion of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, in light of the Acting Chief Justice’s ruling on the National Assembly’s right to cut the national estimates.
In January this year, Acting Chief Justice, Mr Ian Chang ruled that the National Assembly has no right to cut the national budget. The Chief Justice handed down his decision in the High Court on January 29. In the Preliminary Ruling given in June 2012, the CJ had ruled that the National Assembly had a role to either approve or disapprove of the national estimates, not to cut them.
A Notice of Appeal of Chang’s decision was since filed in February by lawyer and Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, on behalf of Speaker of the National Assembly, who was listed as the appellant in the court.
The Speaker is the Chair of the Committee. Government’s representation includes: Teixeira, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh, and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is represented by its Leader, David Granger, Shadow Finance Minister Carl Greenidge, Basil Williams and APNU Chief Whip Amna Ally. Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan, and Moses Nagamootoo are the other members on the sub-committee.
According to the agreement, the issues of contention are to be presented to the sub-committee at 9:00am for discussion.

ONLY MEETING
At the only meeting, Government Members of Parliament (MPs) have bemoaned the genuineness of the talk of consultations.
The Finance Minister told the Guyana Chronicle that the only meeting was on Thursday and the list of the Opposition’s concerns that was supposed to have been forwarded by 9:00am did not materialize until late.
Singh stated that when APNU’s Chief Whip finally forward a list of concerns, it included four “vague” items with no statements as to what was being requested, if it was a reduction or an entire cut.
He said, “The appetite for compromise depends on the scope of the compromise being demanded.
“…it is difficult to say you are interested in compromise when you are not willing to say what issues are worrying you….this has not been done….how do I know when I compromise today, tomorrow another 10 things won’t come up.”
The Minister made it clear that there has been no commensurate response, in terms of a genuine willingness to compromise, from the Opposition.
Following Thursday’s meeting the entire capital expenditure head under the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, some $1.142B was not supported, because of disagreements over the $1.1B for the Amerindian Development Fund.
The allocations to the Ministry of Public Works was also approved in part, with the Transport allocations, under the capital expenditure grouping, being disapproved by the combined Opposition on the basis of non-support for the $6.550B allocation for the continued modernization works at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA). The Transport allocation totaled $6.785B.
The Ministry of Health was treated in a similar manner, with the total allocation to Regional and Clinical Services of $1.351B, under the Ministry’s capital expenditure grouping, being disapproved on the basis of non-support of $910M for work on the Specialty Hospital.

(By Vanessa Narine)