Less $$ for President, PM

This information is contained in the Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure 2017 which was laid in Parliament on Friday, prior to presentation of 2016/2017 Budget by Finance Minister Colm Imbert. Among the areas of expenditure at the Office of President being reduced include official entertainment (from $2.2 million to $1 million) and official overseas travel ($1 million to $900,000) from 2016 to 2017.

Expenses at the President’s establishment have been reduced from $6.5 million to $5.5 million from 2016 to 2017. Expenditure for the Office of the President to host conferences and seminars has been cut from $1,780,0 to $500,000. Expenditure for contract employment at the Office of the President has been reduced from $2,052,000 to $1,400,000.

There has also been a significant reduction in money allocated for the repair and maintenance of buildings which fall under the Office of the President from $1,722,800 to $300,000.

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) also has a reduction in its expenditure from $236,317,157 in 2016 to $216,413,000. Under this head of expenditure, the cost to chairmen and members of commissions of enquiry (COEs) have been reduced from $3.5 million in 2016 to $2 million in 2017.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley recently described the Las Alturas COE as a waste of taxpayers’ money. Expenditure at the Gender Affairs Division of the OPM has been reduced from $314,200 to $305,000 from 2016 to 2017.

Official overseas travel for the OPM has been cut from $3.8 million to $1 million while security services has been reduced slightly from $11.5 million to $11 million. There is no expenditure for the National Operations Centre (NOC) which operated under the OPM in 2015 while the People’s Partnership (PP) was in office. That expenditure was $120,725,757. The NOC was transferred to the National Security Ministry after the People’s National Movement (PNM) assumed office. Despite the overall cut in expenditure for the OPM, there is an increase in expenditure for non-profit organisations which fall under its purview from $60,370,738 to $63,360,000 from 2016 to 2017.

No money is allocated for the Divine Echoes Orchestra for either 2016 or 2017. The orchestra was created during the tenure of former prime minister Patrick Manning who died on July 2.Manning’s son Brian has called on Government to bring back the orchestra and create a development fund for housing as ways to honour his father’s legacy.