Shaw

THE BUTCHER is at work - trimming fat and slicing the steak down to bare bones.

Finance Minister Audley Shaw said last week that those were the instructions he had received from Prime Minister Bruce Golding. But, even as Shaw cuts through the national budget with his ultra-sharp knife, the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) has accused him of not being skillfull enough, claiming that some of his cuts could hurt the nation.

Shaw is proposing to spend $547.5 billion to administer the affairs of the country this fiscal year. He has said that given the turbulent financial conditions, which have crippled economies around the world, government would have to be more prudent in its spending this year.

"The government has asked every permanent secretary to go though the budgets to find the areas to cut the fat, to cut everything to bare bones and to make sure that we are operating in as lean and most efficient a basis possible," the finance minister said.

Despite an application for a rate increase, as high as 27 per cent, by the Jamaica Public Service, government has apparently made public utilities a soft item in the budget, slashing the allocation for this item across many agencies and departments.

The allocation for public utilities for the general maintenance of law and order across police departments has been slashed from $624 million to $356 million.

During last week's sitting of the standing finance committee of the House of Representatives, South St James Member of Parliament (MP) Derrick Kellier told national security minister Dwight Nelson that there was need to revisit the provisions for public utilities.

"It looks like you will have a challenge to pay for your public utilities. It is very embarrassing to go to a police station and they have no light or water. We cannot afford that to happen," Kellier said, while arguing that the figures as presented in the estimates of expenditure suggested "a paucity of funds for the utilities".

Solemn promise

But Nelson has given a solemn promise that police stations would not be left in the dark or waterless owing to non-payment of bills.

"There will be no default on utility obligation in terms of payment. You will not see the lights cut off in police stations," Nelson said. "We will implement saving measures and where there is a shortfall of funds, we will have to look at a reallocation of funds. We have to, once and for all, start to think of conservation as much as possible," he added.

Nelson said that measures would be implemented to reduce the amount spent on telephone bills from the public's purse, or the ope-ration of the agencies under the ministry of national security.

While the estimates of expenditure have not disaggregated the allocation for the various public utilities, it appears that Shaw's knife asks no questions as it slices through fat.

The police academy, which trains new intakes, has been allocated $26.8 million, down from $46 million last year for its public utilities.

Narcotics control, which was allocated $27 million last year, will only get $10 million this year to pay such bills. However, Operation Kingfish has not suffered such misfortune. It is set to receive an additional $1.5 million on the $2.5 it received last year for utilities.

However, the forensic lab has not been that lucky. Its utilities allocation has been cut from $7 million to $4.5 million.

The Serious and Organised Crimes division is also set to suffer big cuts as its budget for utilities has been lowered to $9.5 million, down from $11 million last year.

Increased utility allocation

Like the police, some of the island's courts have been stripped of some of the funds they had to spend on utilities.

The Resident Magistrate's court, for example, has had its allocation for public utilities slashed from $32.7 million last year to $21.5 million in the proposed 2009-2010 budget, even though Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne said there would be more night court.

The revenue court, which received $50,000 last year, will not receive a dime for public utilities.

The Supreme Court, however, has received an increased utility allocation. The provisions for the ministry of finance have moved from $26.8 million to $32.7 million.

The court of appeal, which received $9.1 million last year to pay its utility bills, will not get a cent in its budget, but Lightbourne said that these expenses would be taken care of from the budget of court-management services, a new department which would share office space with the appeal court.

Court-management services has been allocated $9.2 million to spend on public utilities.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which got $9.4 million in last year's budget for public utilities, will get $8.1 million towards paying for such services, this year.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com