Tweet
$15-b deficit faces new gov't
BY ERICA VIRTUE Observer writer virtuee@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, September 08, 2007
The new Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Government, which is expected to be installed by next week, will be immediately faced with a deficit of just over $15 billion to meet extra budgetary expenditures for the current financial year, the Observer was told yesterday.
According to one source, the party was notified on Wednesday that the finance ministry simply did not have the funds.
"I can tell you that the JLP was surprised, particularly because the source of the information was not only credible, but shocking." the source said.
The absence of the funds will immediately affect the University Hospital, the University of the West Indies, at least one pension fund, and payments to several large blocs, including pensioners.
Ministry of Finance officials contacted yesterday were tight-lipped, with some even refusing to answer queries about the ability of the ministry to make the payments, especially those to cover the incoming Government's promise of free tuition fees up to the secondary school level.
Responses of "no comment" or silence greeted questions posed by the Observer. However, one official said, "I do not believe it is something we would deny".
The JLP, which made the free tuition fee promise during its campaign in the just concluded general elections, has already been forced to address concerns raised by parents who have questioned whether they should pay the money, given that schools started reopening late this week, with full resumption set for next Monday, days before the new Government will take office.
The JLP has vowed that the promise will be kept and has said that parents who have already paid the money will be refunded. However, despite the JLP's reassurance, some school administrators have insisted that students pay all fees.
At 11:00 am on Friday when Jamaica College and Ardenne High School were contacted, they insisted that all the fees should be paid.
Contacted later, the JLP's spokesman on education, Andrew Holness, said he has received calls about the issue.
"I have received several complaints with respect to the schools you mentioned, plus others," he said. "I can assure you that the issue will be addressed and has been addressed. But, as to how we deal with this emerging issue, I have to speak with the party leader."
Tuition payments to schools, by the more than 200,000 students at the secondary level, have, over the years, provided early revenue for schools to begin preparatory work for the beginning of the new school year.
BY ERICA VIRTUE Observer writer virtuee@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, September 08, 2007
The new Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Government, which is expected to be installed by next week, will be immediately faced with a deficit of just over $15 billion to meet extra budgetary expenditures for the current financial year, the Observer was told yesterday.
According to one source, the party was notified on Wednesday that the finance ministry simply did not have the funds.
"I can tell you that the JLP was surprised, particularly because the source of the information was not only credible, but shocking." the source said.
The absence of the funds will immediately affect the University Hospital, the University of the West Indies, at least one pension fund, and payments to several large blocs, including pensioners.
Ministry of Finance officials contacted yesterday were tight-lipped, with some even refusing to answer queries about the ability of the ministry to make the payments, especially those to cover the incoming Government's promise of free tuition fees up to the secondary school level.
Responses of "no comment" or silence greeted questions posed by the Observer. However, one official said, "I do not believe it is something we would deny".
The JLP, which made the free tuition fee promise during its campaign in the just concluded general elections, has already been forced to address concerns raised by parents who have questioned whether they should pay the money, given that schools started reopening late this week, with full resumption set for next Monday, days before the new Government will take office.
The JLP has vowed that the promise will be kept and has said that parents who have already paid the money will be refunded. However, despite the JLP's reassurance, some school administrators have insisted that students pay all fees.
At 11:00 am on Friday when Jamaica College and Ardenne High School were contacted, they insisted that all the fees should be paid.
Contacted later, the JLP's spokesman on education, Andrew Holness, said he has received calls about the issue.
"I have received several complaints with respect to the schools you mentioned, plus others," he said. "I can assure you that the issue will be addressed and has been addressed. But, as to how we deal with this emerging issue, I have to speak with the party leader."
Tuition payments to schools, by the more than 200,000 students at the secondary level, have, over the years, provided early revenue for schools to begin preparatory work for the beginning of the new school year.
Comment