At the 79th sitting of the 11th Parliament on Monday, the Committee of Supply approved $390 million in current expenditure of the Social Cohesion Ministry in its 2018 budget.
Minister within the Social Cohesion Ministry, with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr George Norton
The Opposition questioned several areas of the expenditure which included National and Other Events, Contracted Employees and Buildings.
Following a bombardment of questions from the Opposition, on the increase in the amount of money allocated to national and other events, Minister within the Social Cohesion Ministry, with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr George Norton explained the $23.5 million allocated catered for several major national events in the country throughout the year.
“This (the amount) caters for Mashramani, Independence, Phagwah, Diwali, Youman Nabi, Easter, Emancipation and other national events, also the Ministry’s Mashramani activity entails a float parade and the production of the Ministry’s band, etc, and is catered for in the line item,” Dr Norton said.
He added that an overview of the itinerary would be provided to the Opposition for additional clarifications.
The Minister then highlighted that the added sum of $15 million would go towards repairing and upgrading the Ministry’s Main and Quamina Streets Head Office. He was asked by Opposition Member Juan Edghill whether the Cohesion Ministry was still housed under the Ministry of the Presidency, and he explained his Ministry has taken up office in the Main and Quamina Streets location since September.
