ONLY $300 million of the $1.3 billion that will be provided by Government to repair roads damaged by hurricanes this year will be allocated to the Ministry of Local Government.
Information Minister, Senator Burchell Whiteman, said the Government was unable to allocate any additional funding at this time.
Speaking at Tuesday's post-Cabinet media briefing at Jamaica House, Senator Whiteman sought to explain how the $1.3 billion allocation announced last week would be used.
"In that $1.3 billion, which is the plan for January to March, there is a provision of $300 million to be spent by the Ministry of Local Government ...," he said.
Last month, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) mayors marched on Jamaica House demanding more money for road repairs following the damage caused by hurricanes and floods earlier this year.
GOVERNMENT HAS NO MONEY
But on Tuesday Senator Whiteman said while the Government understood the concerns of the mayors, it did not have any more money at this time.
Said the Information Minister: "What we have provided is what is available. It must be understood that this $1.3 billion, and the $300 million included in there for Local Government, does not include any other sums which may already be available to parish councils, or which they may access by the Parochial (Revenue) Fund between now and the March 31."
But JLP Mayor of Port Maria, Robert Montaque, accused the Government of showing no interest in Local Government as he argued that that sum was inadequate.
"They are trying to hoodwink the rest of the country," Montaque reacted on Tuesday.
But Senator Whiteman said that the mayors' requests were unrealistic as they had asked for a sum far in excess of the total amount for the entire island, including roads which, he said, were not a part of the mayors' remit.
"What we want to indicate to the public, as we certainly would wish for them to understand, is that there is a limit on what is available, and there is also a certain limit in terms of time," he said.
- D.R.
