By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A newly-introduced $5.8m Budget outlay is financing the temporary employment of 350 persons who have largely been jobless since Hurricane Dorian struck three-and-a-half years ago, it was asserted last night.

The Ministry of Grand Bahama, in a written response to Tribune Business inquiries, justified the extra spending that has produced a 43.6 percent increase in its 2022-2023 Budget allocation on the basis that it has provided much-needed incomes while also benefiting the wider community and “redevelopment of government assets”.

The $5.797m outlay, which was revealed for the first time in last week’s mid-year Budget but not included in the original version last May, is shown as a non-recurring item since it does not appear in the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 Budget forecasts. The ministry last night confirmed that the year-long initiative will end when the current fiscal year closes on June 30, 2023.

“It is the Beautiful Grand Bahama programme that has employed over 350 individuals, many of whom have been unemployed since Hurricane Dorian, who work on the redevelopment of government assets and community enhancement initiatives until June 30, 2023,” the Ministry of Grand Bahama said.

The inclusion of the additional $5.797m accounts for virtually all the mid-year increase in the Ministry of Grand Bahama’s budget, which has expanded from an initial $13.363m to $19.188m for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. And it is not the only “beautification” related spending increase to suddenly make an appearance in the Government’s financial plans for the year.

For the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) budget is also increasing by $4.144m in the mid-year Budget when compared to May. Some $3.463m, or 84 percent, of this hike relates to a newly-appeared line item for “National Beautification Programme”, which again does not recur in subsequent forecasts for upcoming fiscal years.

Despite making inquiries, Tribune Business was last night unable to confirm exactly what this spending increase relates to or if there is any connections to the 50th Independence anniversary celebrations. Between the DEHS and Ministry of Grand Bahama, a combined $9.26m in previously unbudgeted spending is being allocated to “beautification”.

Another area where there was a significant mid-year Budget increase was the Department of Emergency Preparedness and Response, whose total spending allocation has more than doubled - increasing by 143 percent to $15.976m from $6.578m.

That represents a $9.398m increase, of which some $8.692m or 92.5 percent relates to “debris management”. Myles Laroda, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office who has responsibility for the department, yesterday said he warned when the original Budget was presented that its needs may sharply increase as he confirmed the hike related to costs involved in managing the landfills created to deal with Hurricane Dorian debris and their contents.

“There’s two sites, one in Treasure Cay and the other in Spring City, but we also have a dump up on Elbow Cay which, during Dorian, was private property but the owner allowed us to store debris there,” Mr Laroda said. “Most of that [extra spending] is related to that. I said when we did the Budget that it may go up because there are some other areas coming online.

“We provided so much of an allowance for home repairs, and towards the building of the centre. We got a grant from the Indian government, and are building that community centre and hurricane shelter in Marsh Harbour. It will be spent, too, on those areas. The work continues. There’s a lot of stuff going on over there.”

The “beautification” increases, and increased allocation for ongoing Hurricane Dorian site management and clean-up, represent some of the larger spending increases unveiled in the mid-year Budget besides allocations such as the extra $20m to the Water & Sewerage Corporation to pay its bills. The budget for the Bahamas Games has also more than doubled, jumping from $1.5m to $3.5m - an increase of some $2m.

The Ministry of Public Service has enjoyed the largest mid-year Budget reallocation of $25.511m. Some $15.8m, or over 60 percent, of this sum is to cover office rental costs and National Insurance Board (NIB) lease agreements, with a further $6.18m dedicated to pension payments to public officials. These will now increase to over $130m for the year, with another $2m rise relating to “consultancy services”.

The Davis administration is increasing its fixed-cost or recurrent spending by $76.5m compared to the original May Budget forecast. It is aiming to finance through the combination of a $12.1m decline in capital spending and a forecast $53m revenue increase compared to initial Budget projections, thus containing the increase in the deficit to $11.4m.

While the Government has reduced its estimated wages and salary bill by $19.827m, or 2.7 percent, to $711.876m compared to the originally estimated $731.703m, this number is still forecast to grow again and keep on rising to $745.177m in the 2023-2034 fiscal year and $759.987m in 2024-2025.