Julius Espat Rejects Budget; Speaks on Supplementary Appropriations

Julius Espat

Julius Espat, Area Representative of Cayo South and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, joined his colleagues in rejecting the budget presented by the Prime Minister. His focus was on supplementary appropriations. He explained that the figures in the budget presented by the Prime Minister means nothing in real terms.

Julius Espat, Area Representative, Cayo South

“This is due to the fact that they party in government has consistently made a mockery of our system of governance and this honorable House. Every year Mister Speaker we come to this House to listen to the budget proposed by the Prime Minister and every year, Mister Speaker, the Prime Minister ignores it once it is passed and eventually spends any amount of the people’s money in any way that he pleases. I can appreciate though Mister Speaker all the hard work that the public officers put-in in preparation of the technical work because it is from them that I find out the frustration that they go to when they put in all this effort and it really means nothing. In July 2015, Government went back to the House to get an approval for an addition spending of fifty-two million five hundred and fifty-seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-four dollars for fiscal year 15/16, less than six month after the March budget.  And that is general revenues supplementary appropriation number one for last year. On September the second Mister Speaker, government went back to the House to get approval for an additional spending of eighty million dollars and that is general revenues supplementary appropriation number two for last year. On September the fourteenth, Mister Speaker, government went back to the House to get approval to spend an additional hundred and sixty-two million seven hundred thousand dollars; general revenues supplementary appropriation number three. And on December the fourth of last year, government went back to the House to get approval for an additional spending of forty-four million seven hundred and forty-three thousand one hundred and eighty five dollars; general revenues supplementary appropriation number four. We all know what the last one was all about. That was the one that forty-four million dollars was spent in one month and it coincidentally came at a time when we had general elections. You remember that member from Toledo West. The member says deliberately, not coincidentally. Mister Speaker this gives us a grand total of three hundred and forty million dollars Mister Speaker; that is a whopping thirty percent increase of the approved budget for last year.”