Gov’t making excuses for unspent $50M — Penn

Eighth District Representative Marlon Penn has criticised the government for failing to utilise over $50 million, which was returned to the treasury. According to Penn, several planned projects have not commenced, prompting him to probe the issue further.

When he confronted Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley about the issue in the House of Assembly recently, Penn uncovered that more than $30 million allocated for various projects and initiatives under the Premier’s Office remained unspent.

Penn voiced concerns that this unspent budget could have stimulated a struggling economy. He highlighted the continuous feedback from local businesses about the sluggish economy, exacerbated by the aftermath of hurricanes, the COVID pandemic, and ongoing challenges.

“When you look at the businesses in the territory, they continue to complain about how sluggish the economy has been over the last few years coming out of the hurricanes [and] coming out of the issues with COVID and challenges that businesses continue to face,” Penn remarked.

He added: “Then you have a government that had over 50-plus million dollars that could have gone to stimulate the economy that was not spent in the economy.”

He criticised the Premier’s response about the unspent funds, noting the government’s tendency to dance around questions and beat around the bush.

Penn argued that the government should have realised halfway through its budget cycle that some projects could not be completed, providing an opportunity to revise the budget — a practice that has been done in previous years.

Additionally, Penn highlighted the concerning issue surrounding rent for the government’s office spaces. Over $10 million was allocated to renting offices, even as the Ralph T. O’Neal complex remains incomplete.

Despite $5 million being earmarked for repairs to the complex — a project that would allow government offices to return to the complex — this money was instead returned to the treasury without any progress on the project.

“Five million dollars went back into the treasury that was supposed to repair the complex so that we could put our offices back into the complex,” he stated. “So you do the math – five million dollars not spent, complex not fixed. Ten million dollars, now and we’re not going to this year, and we’re no closer to getting that particular project [completed].”