Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Timothy Antoine has sought to bring some form of clarity to a multi-million dollar loan package that Grenada received from the Caricom Petroleum Fund.
Speaking to reporters in St. George's, Antoine said that he was advised by the Accountant General in the Ministry of Finance, Patricia Antoine that the $12 million that were earmarked for Grenada came into the country last February.
According to Antoine, apparently, there was some form of a delay in the funds getting to Grenada but he could not give any specific reason for the problem.
"There was a delay in the notification of this receipt from Caricom to the Treasury. In other words, the monies came into the account but the Treasury was not promptly advised that the funds were received", he told reporters.
"So there was a lag between when the funds were received and when they were actually acknowledged as having been received," he said.
The money, provided mainly from funds from Trinidad and Tobago was intended for three projects - retrofitting of the Grenada Coast Guard, the Mirabeau Farm School, and the rehabilitation of the Carlton Home for Alcoholics that was destroyed in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan.
Antoine said he was also advised that the funds were used "temporarily" by the old Keith Mitchell government to assist with salaries at the end of February."I did not direct this decision," he quipped.
Antoine has been coming under increasing pressure in some local quarters for his management of the Ministry of Finance under the Mitchell government.
The PS said the expectation is that the funds would have to be spent on the original intention and objective that it was given for use in Grenada.
Government's monthly payroll which includes pension payment is said to be approximately $21 million.
According to Antoine, he has asked officials in his office to provide him with an update about the funds in order to brief Finance Minister, Nazim Burke, and the new Cabinet of Ministers.
"...My information (is) that the funds came in around the Fourth of February 2008, that there was a lag in the notification to the Treasury, so the monies came in and nobody in (the) Treasury initially knew what those funds were for", he said.
"Subsequently, they were advised, and since then the Treasury has belatedly... advised the Caricom Secretariat that these funds have been received," he added.
Ex-Prime Minister Mitchell has acknowledged that the funds might have been used on other projects carried out by his administration.
