APNU/AFC to participate in budget debate – Opposition Leader

…debate commences today at ACCC

Having boycotted the actual presentation of the 2020 Emergency Budget last week Wednesday, Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon has assured that his Members of Parliament (MPs) drawn from A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) will be there for the budget debates.
Harmon gave this assurance during a brief interview with this publication. Asked whether the Opposition would be participating in nominating members to the Parliamentary Select Committee and Committee of Supply, Harmon signalled the Opposition’s readiness to play its role.
“They will be there, we will start the budget debates (today)… we’ll deal with whatever matters have to be dealt with in the Parliament tomorrow (today), we’ll deal with it,” the Opposition Leader explained.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly released its lineup of speakers for the budget debate. First up for the budget debates which start today at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) is Opposition MP and AFC Chairman Raphael Trotman. He will be followed by Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton.
Hamilton will be followed by Opposition MP Shurwayne Holder, Junior Public Works Minister Deodat Indar and Opposition MP Coretta McDonald. Also slated to speak are People’s Progressive Party (PPP) MPs Seepaul Narine, Sanjeev Datadin, Alister Charlie, Minister of Public Affairs Kwame McKoy and Junior Local Government Minister Anand Persaud.
On the Opposition side, the other MPs scheduled to speak on Monday are Devin Sears, Amanza Walton-Desir, Vincent Henry and Maureen Philadelphia. The budget debates will continue through the week until Friday, September 18.
The $329 billion, 2020 Emergency Budget was on Wednesday last presented at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, marking the first budget in almost two years and providing Guyana with much-needed resources and development plans after the political upheaval of the past year.
Of the billions being presented, $51.7 billion, representing 15 per cent of the total budget, will be going to health. This includes $14.3 billion for the procurement of drugs and medical supplies.
In the field of education, $52 billion has been set aside including $1.7 billion for construction and rehabilitation of schools. A further $3 billion has been set aside for housing and $2 billion for the Guyana Water Incorporated.
In addition, $34.4 billion has been allocated to go to the Public Works Ministry, where work will be done on a number of projects including the Ogle bypass road and the East Coast railway embankment.
After the figures are debated, the Parliamentary Committee of Supply is convened and must review the line items for the estimates. It is only after the Committee’s work is completed and they report to the National Assembly that the budgetary sums can be adopted and disbursed.
Previously, the National Assembly had approved a total of $11.2 billion for 16 constitutional agencies for the remainder of the 2020 fiscal year. Among the agencies that had their 2020 budgets approved in its entirety for the period ending December 31, 2020, is Parliament Office, which got $1,799,248,000.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) received a whopping $4,943,052,000; while the Supreme Court of Judicature got $2,443,164,000. Another $908,636,000 was approved for the Office of the Auditor General.
The Chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) received $226,822,000, while the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) got $220,802,000 and the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) secured $206,460,000.
The National Assembly further approved a total of $150,636,000 for the Public and Police Service Commissions. The Teaching Service Commission received $117,075,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman got $70,001,000 and the Women and Gender Equality received $58,327,000. An additional $46,095,000 was approved by the House for the Rights of the Child Commission along with $40,911,000 for the Public Service Appellate Tribunal.
The Human Rights Commission secured $25,958,000; while the Indigenous Peoples Commission got $24,392,000 and the Judicial Service Commission received $10,020,000.