Georgetown: Government has announced that the monies flowing out of the Lotto Fund will now be directed to the Consolidated Fund, bringing an end to a contention which saw a court challenge and internal bickering in the 10th Parliament.
The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) component of Government, while in Opposition in the tenth Parliament, had raised several concerns over the use of the Lotto Fund, claiming that it was unlawful for it to be anywhere else than in the Consolidated Fund.
The then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s contention had always been that it is perfectly lawful and constitutional to place those monies in a fund separate and apart from the Consolidated Fund.
Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge had moved a motion in the House seeking to compel former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh to deposit the monies directly into the Consolidated Fund.
During the debate, the then PPP/C Government had argued that the motion was misconceived and that the provisions of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, Article 216 of the Constitution, and the Lotteries Act permit those monies to be kept outside of the Consolidated Fund and in a development fund.
On Wednesday, Governance and Patrimony Minister Raphael Trotman reported that Finance Minister Winston Jordan had indicated that the 2015 National Budget will reflect the lotto flowing into the Consolidated Fund.
While he could not give the figure as it stands at the moment, Trotman said it was found that many agencies had been drawing monies from the Fund for various matters including training, travel, attendance of conferences, etc. And while that may not be a bad way to go, he said Government needs to do some streamlining, since there should have been some protocols in place in terms of “how and who and when and for what specific purposes”.
The Fund, he said, was originally designed to take care of community and cultural development; however, this has not been happening. “Even if it was spent, don’t think there has been value for money”. He said individual agencies will have to make a request of the Consolidated Fund for monies from the fund, instead of assigning their expenses to the Fund.
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