serious concerns

Government’s decision to use the Catastrophe Fund to capitalise the proposed $40 million Value Added Tax (VAT) Loan Fund to provide assistance for some businesses is a cause of concern for the Opposition party, with several of its members adamant that this is not the way Government should go at this time.

Leader of the Opposition and Political Leader of the People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PDP), Bishop Joseph Atherley raised the issue in a press conference via Zoom yesterday afternoon, noting that this move is coming just ahead of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which officially starts on June 1.

“We have serious concerns that on the verge of the hurricane season you are raiding the Catastrophe Fund to underwrite the establishment of a VAT Loan facility. Now listen, not too long ago the former Administration was chided for attempting to use the Catastrophe Fund for purposes other than were intended. We are on the verge of a hurricane season and I don’t think the justification for raiding the Catastrophe Fund established over the last decade is sufficient to suggest that that move is a proper one. So we have some serious concerns,” he said.

Bishop Atherley, while admitting that the COVID-19 pandemic is “catastrophic and portends to even become cataclysmic”, contended that the fact remains we are on the cusp of the hurricane season and given the severity of hurricanes in recent times, he is uneasy with the use of the Catastrophe Fund for the purpose proposed.

“Recent patterns suggest some monstrous systems. The projections for this year is five very serious, serious systems and I just say I am not comfortable with the use of the Catastrophe Fund, even in the face of the current situation. I am saying I am concerned about it and I think most Barbadians would. This is a Fund that was established and accumulated volumes over the years and despite the immediate pressure, I don’t know there is the need to go there with all that we have access to otherwise, because we can’t just say we are faced with COVID and dismiss the possibility that a system could come our way,” he stated.

The Opposition Leader added, “You are making recourse to a Fund and in a context where other countries to which you may ordinarily look to for some support, may not be in a position now because of COVID to give you that support”.

Adding to his comments, Senator Crystal Drakes, the Party’s lead spokesperson on finance and the economy, maintained that Government must be very mindful of how it spends money at this time.

“Given that we are on the cusp of a hurricane season, would it not be prudent to have a roll out of a programme that upgrades your housing stock at this time? That way you are actually fortifying your housing stock in the event there is a hurricane, rather than putting it into other places where you are just not going to see the returns on investment in the immediate future,” Drakes said.

The Senator made the point while contending that Government’s expenditure focus should be on becoming creative and building resilience simultaneously. She bolstered the argument while noting that a lot of the local housing stock is likely not to withstand a category two hurricane.

Also weighing in the matter was Senator Caswell Franklyn, who said that government refuses to learn from its mistakes. Reflecting on the National Insurance Scheme, where the money has been used over the years for a variety of projects and is now being called upon to assist those in need, he hinted that a similar fate could befall the Catastrophe Fund.

“We took up the National Insurance funds and now we want them and are talking about recapitalising the National Insurance. You wouldn’t have to recapitalise the National Insurance if you had left the capital there in the first place, because these funds are designed for specific purposes that can happen. They weren’t happening right away so you just took them up; and when something happens you don’t have the money,” he lamented. (JRT)