Overseas missions not significantly affected by limited funds - Nicholson

Questions were raised at Wednesday’s sitting of Parliament's Standing Finance Committee as to how the government will fund its overseas missions given the sharp slide in the value of the Jamaican dollar. Dr. Ken Baugh, Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs, said the 10 per cent increase in the budget for missions may have to be adjusted.

Dr. Baugh pointed out to Senator AJ Nicholson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, that given the scope of duties carried out by diplomats the sliding dollar will affect the funding of missions.

But, Senator Nicholson said the work of the missions will not be significantly affected. He added that the budgetary allocation is adequate given the movement in the exchange rate. Senator Nicholson was also quizzed whether there were plans to establish three new overseas missions.

The Minister was also asked to respond to a concern raised by Gregory Mair, Opposition Member of Parliament about goods being imported without proper labelling. It has been reported that several items have been entering the island under the guise that they are from Trinidad & Tobago. However, they're in fact from other countries.

Senator Nicholson said this is an on-going problem being dealt with by the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce. He said the importation of non-authentic goods should be reported.

“What I can tell you is that you have specific - and I don’t want only anecdotal - if you have specific reports that you can make about specific items, please report it to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade for onward transmission to the Ministry of Industry, because this is an issue we have been hearing about,” said Mr. Nicholson.