THE National Assembly on Monday approved $54.89 billion in supplementary funding to accelerate the implementation of key national development projects across multiple sectors, presented by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh.
The largest allocation of $19.09 billion was approved for the Office of the Prime Minister to support the Gas-to-Energy Project, providing additional resources to facilitate an accelerated work programme, which seeks to provide electricity to Guyanese households at a significantly reduced cost by time it is completed.
The Ministry of Housing received $17.5 billion to fast-track infrastructure development and construction projects.
At the same time, the Ministry of Public Works secured $8.5 billion, comprising $6 billion for miscellaneous roads and drainage works and $2.5 billion for hinterland roads.
The National Assembly also approved $4.5 billion for the Ministry of Agriculture to provide subsidies and contributions to local organisations, including the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
Other allocations include $496.3 million for coastal water supply works, $600 million for the maintenance of hinterland and coastal airstrips under the Ministry of Public Utilities and Aviation, $337.9 million for the rental of buildings under the Ministry of Health, and $60 million for the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Of the total approved supplementary allocation of $54,889,259,163, some $4.75 billion will finance current expenditure, while $50.14 billion has been allocated for capital expenditure to advance the government’s ongoing development agenda.