Assembly approves extra R28.4m for government expenses |08 April 2009

Presenting a motion to that effect, leader of government business in the assembly Marie-Louise Potter said the government was unable to foresee these expenses in the recent budget preparations.

Mrs Potter gave a breakdown of the allocation of R28,450,081 and reasons for the extra expenditure. Under ministries and departments a total of R12,969,406 was proposed as follows:

The Ministry of Finance asked for R2.5m to ensure better control and supervision of government expenses in line with the new economic and financial policies Finance Minister Danny Faure announced recently. The money will go towards setting up new structures, including the new Treasury single-account system, and recruiting the necessary technicians and professionals.

R3m was requested by the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Transport to allow for expenses related to the recent piracy incidents.

The Landscape and Waste Management Agency asked for R3.5m to finance new programmes and work responsibilities brought about when the new agency was set up earlier this year.

R1,959,076 was requested by the Department of Judiciary to allow for the payment of compensation and gratuity on the retirement of the chief justice next month. Mrs Potter said this sum is in line with legislation the assembly approved last December.

The Department of Internal Affairs asked for R1.5m to reinforce prison security and to meet the extra cost of producing national identity cards because of the change in exchange rates.

The National Assembly secretariat needed R294,330 to pay the gratuity of two retired assembly members.

R126,000 was requested by the Office of the Electoral Commissioner and R90,000 by the Office of the Ombudsman to allow for the increased rent on office space in Aarti Chambers.

A sum of R6m was requested under the centralised payment of professional and consultancy services for the Ministry of Finance to pay external auditors who are auditing parastatals in line with the new economic and financial policy.

A request for R60,000 was made for transfers to the public sector from central government, and this will go towards supporting the National Human Rights Commission in its operation and administrative costs.

Under capital subscriptions, R9,420,675 was requested to buy a share in the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) so Seychelles can have access to a fibre optic cable network.

While no members of the majority party intervened on the motion, two members from the opposition gave their views.

The leader of the opposition Wavel Ramkalawan and the elected member for Les Mamelles Bernard Georges expressed the same views.

While they both approved extra funds for the Ministries of Finance and of Environment, Natural Resources and Transport, the Department of Internal Affairs and the National Human Rights Commission, they believe certain of those expenses could have been absorbed by the contingency fund of R300m that was approved in the last budget.

As for the sum being paid under the capital subscription, Mr Ramkalawan asked for an explanation because he said the Minister for National Development explained in the assembly recently that the government will not fund telecommunications developments but will leave that to the private sector.

In her summing-up, Mrs Potter said various points raised were valuable and will be brought to the government’s attention.

With regard to the contingency fund, she said its function was specified as being purely to help bail out financial institutions in case of financial crisis.

She said it is through this fund that the government is helping the Housing Finance Company, and the rest of the fund is being kept for similar purposes.

Referring to the capital subscription the government is making towards the WIOCC, Mrs Potter said this was the result of a strategic decision the government had to take at the beginning of the year while it waited for talks with local telecommunication companies about private sector contributions to the project to start.

She said the government was advised last year to buy a share in the WIOCC, a parent company overseeing the connectivity project, and at that time the government had not begun talks with the private sector. 

She said the government intends to discuss with the private sector the possibility of it buying the share, which it had to secure for strategic reasons as it was also being offered to other countries in the region.

Following these explanations, members of the majority party approved the extra money while the opposition abstained.