Wednesday, March 22, 2006

The Sister Islands will benefit from funds endorsed in the Supplementary Appropriation Bill tabled in the Legislative Assembly by Financial Secretary Hon Ken Jefferson last week.

Government channelled $12 million to various projects in Cayman Brac, Little Cayman and Grand Cayman.

Affordable Housing Development Corporation will get $845,000 under a different heading for housing development in the Sister Islands.

Government said shifting money allocated for affordable housing on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman is aimed at placing those funds under the proper legal categorisation.

Originally funds were put within the grouping of ‘executive assets’, but it was necessary that this amount be placed under the heading of ‘equity investments’ to suit the category of the related non-profit organization.

Meanwhile, more money has been released for completion of road works on the west of Grand Cayman and the construction of a cemetery seawall in the East.

Extension of the Esterly Tibbetts Highway from Galleria Plaza to Indies Suites got the bulk of the money with $7,414,218 added to its original budget of $3 million.

Payment for gazetted claims to land was increased from $1 million to $3,571,900.

The Ministry of Communications, Works, and Infrastructure was allotted $301,667 to go along with its original budget of $1,625,700 to assist with needed resources such as a new garbage incinerator and facilities for workers.

Major reconstruction of the East End cemetery seawall along with some works on the seawalls of other cemeteries in Grand Cayman received $259,000 added to the originally approved $371,000.

Continued construction and post-Ivan rebuilding of the Jimmy Powell Cricket Oval facilities received $500,000.

Emergency response services gained $75,000, increasing its total 2005-2006 budgetary allocation to $423,856.

The sum of $10,486,118 million was transferred from the Ministry of Education, Training, Employment, Youth, Sports and Culture for this re-allocation of funds. An additional amount of $635,667 came from money originally voted for collection and disposal of waste.

Movement of most of the money from the Education Ministry is in effect a swap of spending priorities.

Among projects the funds were originally targeting the first phase of construction of new schools, but these projects are still in their planning stages.

The Government said it faced a pressing need to quickly ease the congestion suffered by commuters on the West Bay Road.

Therefore the matching funds that were projected for the Esterly Tibbetts Highway, inclusive of gazetted land claims, were taken from the current Education allocation.

The amounts are to be moved from the share for road works over a period of the next three budgets and plunged back into the school construction project.

The money taken from the amount assigned for collection and disposal of waste represents funds left back after government completed collecting and burying toxic ash in sealed containers. This residue was the result of burning at post-Ivan dumpsites.

Of the $301,667 going to the Ministry of Works, $285,000 is for purchase of a new incinerator for the garbage dump. Hon Arden McLean explained that the last incinerator was lost to Hurricane Ivan, and an air curtain burner is currently being used as a temporary measure. The remaining $16,667 goes to replacement of the workers’ lunchroom, which was also destroyed by Ivan at that site.

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