Imbert hits Kamla over budget bucks

Imbert was speaking on Friday during debate on the Finance (Supplementation and Variation of Appropriation) Bill 2006 in the House of Representatives.

Persad-Bissessar had earlier said the Opposition would not support the Bill, alleging reckless spending by the Government whom she said had already received an adequate $34 billion for this year’s National Budget.

In reply, Imbert said the $4 billion had already been earned from increased energy-sector revenues to Trinidad and Tobago, and that the Government was now simply seeking permission to spend the money.

He went through a list of Government programmes to be funded by the extra allocation, and for each project he challenged Persad-Bissessar to state that it should be discontinued. Explaining that the Government subsidises the cost of gasoline at the pump, Imbert asked Persad-Bissessar whether the $630 million towards this in the supplementary allocation should be removed. He said: “If people have to pay double for gasoline, then you would see riot in this country and hyper-inflation.”

The extra $4 billion, he said, also includes $600 million for BWIA.

“Is the member for Siparia saying we shouldn’t do that but should send home the pilots and flight attendants and don’t pay for the interim maintenance of the aircraft?” he scoffed.

Saying the extra allocation proposes $700 million for the Infrastructure Development Fund, he asked whether Persad-Bissessar was opposed to the building of new roads, water-pipelines, schools, hospitals and police stations.

Was she against the $282 million allocation sought to help T&TEC pay its debts and thereby subsidise the cost of electricity to consumers, he asked?

Imbert endorsed the $135 million for WASA debt-servicing and $157 million for the Water Sector Modernisation and Improvement Programme including replacing WASA’s 50-year-old pipes. Saying this project doesn’t happen magically but costs money, he looked at Persad-Bissessar’s colleague Subhas Panday and said: “Should we take out the water project from Princes Town? Where’s the MP for Princes Town?”

Saying each supplementary allocation was justified, Imbert declared, “In a Budget debate, they are not ‘estimates’ they are ‘allocations.’”

He said that the variation of the National Budget has been a standard practice of the Parliament for the past 40 years. After the initial Budget, he said, the details of each project would be fleshed out as it proceeded, since eachprogramme was actually a work in progress.

Recalling Persad-Bissessar’s objection to paying police overtime and medical expenses, he asked if she objected to money to train and feed Defence Force personnel, scoffing, “So, give them no food, send them out to Operation Weedeater, and make them starve?!”.

The House approved the Bill which will be debated tomorrow in the Senate, which does not have the power to vote against such a money Bill.