THE allocation in the 2014 Budget for the operations of the Office of the President is $6.1B: $5.2B for administrative services, $830M for presidential advisory services, and $65M for defence and national security.
And the combined Opposition, on Tuesday night, voted down a significant portion of the allocation, the entire $5.2B for administrative services, leaving several programmes in jeopardy.
Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Juan Edghill, in an interview, acknowledged that the vote was predicated on contentions with the subventions of $139M for the Guyana Information Agency (GINA) and the $81M for the National Communications Network (NCN).However, he made it clear that what the Opposition’s vote has achieved is to starve the President of funding.
Edghill said, “It is unbelievable that an Opposition, regardless of politics, would deny the Office of the President sums of monies for its administrative services…to collapse this budget is essentially to collapse allocations for the President to work effectively…. what they have essentially done is to starve the President of funding.”

GINA DEFENCE
The Minister made it clear that while the arguments on the allocation to NCN can be understood, the contentions over GINA are completely misplaced, since the entity is, as the name implies, the Government’s information arm.
He noted that in his Budget presentation he made an attempt to point out that the operations of GINA are routine when compared to countries around the world.
President Donald Ramotar himself commented on the allocations to the two agencies last week and stated that the contentions of the Opposition regarding the allocations are purely matters of “vindictiveness” and are without any objective reasoning.
He alluded to GINA’s function of updating the Guyanese people on the works and progress of the current Administration and said any reduction to its spending can be read as the Opposition attempting to “muzzle” the Government.
The President also stated that when it comes to NCN, the words and actions of the combined Opposition contradict each other.
He made reference to an incident where APNU MP, Sydney Allicock, was bullied off NCN by his colleagues, last week. Allicock, who had been invited by the network to appear alongside Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, on the live programme ‘Budget In-Depth’ last Friday night, was instructed by APNU’s Chief Whip, Amna Ally, to “get off that TV.”
Edghill echoed similar sentiments on Tuesday night.
On the assertion that the Government is “bundling” off the allocations for GINA and NCN with other items that the Opposition is not opposed to, he made it clear that Budget 2014 is presented in the same manner as previous budgets.
“It is the same format each year. Every year this is how the budget is formatted….there is nothing new,” he stressed.
The Minister stressed that the Opposition’s irresponsible position has now put a host of other projects and agencies in dire jeopardy.

IN JEOPARDY
The allocations voted down for the other agencies affected include: $245M for the Presidential Guard services, $95M for the provision of developmental and humanitarian aid among other initiatives, $10M for the Office of the First Lady, $73.5M for the Guyana Energy Agency, $119M for the Guyana Office for Investment (GoInvest), $122M for the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST), $17M for the Integrity Commission, and $28.5M for the Office of the Commissioner of Information.
According to Edghill, the latter two allocations are offices called for by the combined Opposition and are now denied funding to undertake its mandate.
He said, “The Commissioner of Information’s office is what they asked for…on one hand you ask for it and when the Government delivers, on the other hand you take away the funding.
“It is the same thing with the Integrity Commission. You cannot run around the place shouting corruption and when the mechanism to address corruption is put in place, you starve it of funding.”
The Minister added that in terms of Guyana’s advance in the field of science, the IAST is looking at a “fantastic proposal” to phase out the use of mercury, which will see Guyana coming in line with international standards, and using coconut as a replacement in the mining sector.
Ahead of a 2020 ban on the use of mercury in the extraction of gold, IAST Head, Dr. Suresh Narine, is prescribing the use of activated carbon from coconut shells as a viable alternative. In a detailed presentation at the 10th Biannual Mining and Quarrying Conference at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, last year, the Guyanese-born Trent University professor said activated carbon is widely used for the recovery of gold across the world and would prove very economical for the country, with a recovery rate of 80 per cent.
Another programme that has major impacts for the Guyanese people, according to Edghill, is the $95M allocation for the provision of developmental and humanitarian aid, as well as other initiatives.
He said, “This is not an insignificant allocation…This is where ordinary Guyanese seeking assistance can come to the President and appeal for help…It is from this fund that he can dispense help to people who need it.”
Also affected is the Information and Communication Technology programme, which addresses the installation and commissioning of the wireless and terrestrial networking system from Moleson Creek, Region Six, to Anna Regina, Region Two; the continuation of the One Laptop per Family Programme (OLPF), a programme under which over 34,000 laptops have been disbursed; and the purchase of equipment.
Edghill made it clear that the repercussions of the Opposition’s vote are real and carry serious consequences.
The other cuts made to date include: the Specialty Hospital – $910M; upgrading of Regional and District Hospitals, including Port Kaituma, Kwakwani, Linden, Bartica, Eye Surgery Operating Room at Linden, etc. – $360M; ambulances, ATVs and Boats – $42M; surgical equipment and instruments – $32M; the Amerindian Development Fund – $1.1B; other Amerindian Programmes, such as ATVs, Tractors, etc. – $40M; the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) modernization project – $6.6B; Civil Aviation – $50M; and Hinterland Airstrips – $185M.

**** ( To be boxed )
Cuts under Office of the President’s Budget
* $245M for the Presidential Guard services
* $95M for the provision of developmental and humanitarian aid among other initiatives
* $10M for the Office of the First Lady
* $73.5M for the Guyana Energy Agency
* $119M for the Guyana Office for Investment (GoInvest)
* $122M for the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST)
* $17M for the Integrity Commission, and
* $28.5M for the Office of the Commissioner of Information.
Written By Vanessa Narine