MP Sharma wants $5M

FYZABAD MP Chandresh Sharma has asked the Government to give each Member of Parliament $5 million to aid their constituents. His request came on Monday night in the debate on the Budget in the House of Representatives. He estimated that each constituency contained 3,700 people living below the poverty line, and had 100 voluntary organisations like NGOs and churches that also required assistance. In calling for the $5 million fund, he explained that persons finding themselves in crisis often had to endure a long wait to access social assistance from the Government. When someone’s house was burnt down, he related, the victims had to first wait a long time for a report by the Fire Services, even if initially the firemen had never even responded to the fire.

He recalled the woe of a maxi-taxi driver in his constituency who had been involved in an accident. “He owes $4,000 on his maxi, but now can’t pay the loan. He can’t work because he is injured. He asked his MP for help.” Sharma criticised the Budget saying, “It doesn’t focus on human development, but instead is spending money without returns.” Noting the three most recent Budgets were respectively entitled “Empowering People,” “Sustainable Development” and most recently “Survival,” he remarked, “How do you move from sustainable development to survival?” He added: “The survival of who?

The PNM?” He slammed the Government for allocating just three-and-a-half percent of the Budget to Local Government, which he said was down from four percent last year. Sharma accused the Ministry of Housing of trying to target young voters by using a questionnaire for applicants for National Housing Authority (NHA) houses. He said, “The instructions at NHA are to give homes to those applicants with children 18 years or older, and near to age 17 years, who will be able to vote in the next election.” At that charge the Government MPs grinned and shook their heads in mock disbelief. Sharma criticised the National Social Development Programme as being too costly in its projects to pipe water to new areas.