THE Supply Committee of the National Assembly on Tuesday approved the budgetary estimations for the Public and Police Service Commissions as well as the Teaching Service Commission. Prime Minister Samuel Hinds delivered on behalf of these Commissions.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, Basil Williams began the round of interrogation directed to the Prime Minister who was tasked with justifying the allocations to those commissions.
Williams inquired why both the Public Service Commission and Police Service Commission were grouped under the same heading since they are provided for separately in the constitution.
The Prime Minister said he was uncertain as to whether Williams was asking a legitimate question since the two Commissions are operated under one Secretariat.
The Chairman of the Committee of Supply of the National Assembly, Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman interjected, noting that to his knowledge both the commissions had been merged in budgetary presentations for previous years so that format has been observed for quite some time.
Williams further pushed for a response as to whether the commission is constituted at this point and if not, demanded an explanation as to the wages and salaries provided for in the estimates. Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira exclaimed, “you know very well that it is not commissioned.”
Williams resumed by asking why there is an allocation for a commission that has not been commissioned. And Teixeira responded to the question by affirming that even though the commission is nonexistent, the secretariat still accrues some amount of cost.
The Chairman of the Committee of Supply then moved for the approval of the estimates, and this was met without any objections from the Opposition.
Teaching Service Commission
Similarly, the Teaching Service Commission’s budgetary estimations were passed by the Committee of Supply but only after a few questions of scrutiny from the Opposition.
APNU Member of Parliament Volda Lawrence asked the Prime Minister about the increase in travel and subsistence accrued to the addition of $1M from the last year even though there was a decrease in staff by some six staffers.
The Prime Minister added that these allocations were accountable to the members of the Teaching Service Commission.
Other questions regarding the estimations for the Teaching Service Commission were aimed at infrastructural development and were rationalised by the Prime Minister to the satisfaction of the Opposition.
The Chairman of the Committee of Supply then moved for the estimates to be approved and this was done unanimously.
Written By Derwayne Wills