Brown Burke accuses gov't of ignoring proposal for public spending oversight committee

By Nakinskie Robinson    

 

Opposition Member of Parliament Dr. Angela Brown Burke says the government has ignored the opposition's proposal to establish a national oversight committee to monitor how public funds are spent.

 

Dr. Brown Burke says three years ago she tabled a motion with the proposal, but the Holness administration has yet to respond.

 

Her comment is in light of upcoming local government elections for which an allocation was made in the third supplementary estimates for the 2023/24 fiscal year.

 

Dr. Brown Burke says during the last local government elections there were public concerns about how funds from a $600 million programme allocation were distributed.

 

According to Dr. Brown Burke, there must be a balanced distribution of state resources and the public should be privy to information on such expenditure.

 

In the meantime, Dr. Brown Burke, who is the opposition spokesperson on Labour and Social Security, is also calling for greater oversight for funds earmarked to assist vulnerable and high risk groups.

 

"The motion itself was also drafted against the background of a number of individuals being uncomfortable or asking questions about how some of the benefits to the ministries are disbursed. You hear persons saying, for example, that whether it is the PATH programme or other programmes that people are drawn from specific areas."

 

"I remember asking the question the last time whether or not the distribution of PATH beneficiaries mirrored the poverty map of Jamaica so that in the areas where we have the highest levels of poverty, we would see the greatest number of individuals on the PATH programme. When I asked the minister, he said he couldn't tell, which is a big problem," Dr. Brown Burke said in an interview with Radio Jamaica News.