MAR 13

Leader of the opposition in the Upper House George Prime believes that Supplementary Estimates should not be encouraged by any country as part of balancing its Budget.
He charged that over the years the ruling New National Party (NNP) administration of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell has in its Budget presentation continue to use Supplementary Estimates to meet its commitments.

"One is excusable, two is pardonable but three, it is a curse" Prime told the sitting during his contribution on the 2004 Budget in the Upper House last Friday.

He believes that when government sets unrealistic targets it is unable to meet, then it has no choice but to come up with some means of generating the revenue it needed.

According to Prime, government must not say things will be done just with the aim of looking good when they know it is impossible to achieve some of those plans.

He pointed out that revenue will then have to come from somewhere resulting in Supplementary Estimates being prepared.

The opposition Senator insisted that Supplementary Estimates should not be encouraged since it requires a lot of fine tuning. He pointed out that a Budget is no intrigue but an indication as to how one manages its home affairs.
"Did the government balance its books in 2003, did it receive enough money to pay out bills or did we cut our coat in accordance with our cloth" Prime asked.

Prime noted that contrary to what might have been said about the good showing in the local economy, he is yet to see signs of growth.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House stated that another question government should ask is whether or not the constant borrowing is not leading Grenada towards a debt trap.

He also brushed aside statements made by Leader of Government Business in the Senate Einstein Louison who claimed that some 5000 plus new jobs were created last year by the NNP government.

Prime, a Barrister at-Law and Deputy Political Leader of the National Democratic Congress, (NDC) asked if Louison was referring to the Imani trainees or the workers conducting the de-bushing on the public roads.
He praised the government for announcing a price cut on some food items such as Crackers, Macaroni, Corned Beef, Salami, Brown Rice, Luncheon Meat, Canned Sardines, Fresh Butter, Salted Butter, among others that took effect this week.

According to Prime, any attempt to release the poor through price reduction is commendable.