Premier promises the roll out of bottlenecked projects
Premier Donaldson Romeo
It is no surprise that the Premier in his presentation during the post talks press briefing following the Financial Aid Mission talks held here the week of January 28- 29, 2016, focused much on procurement and bottlenecks, while at the same time speaking to the requirement of the British Government the UK Govt has pledged its support to ensure that Montserrat’s economy grows in such a way that the island can stand on its own two feet.
He spoke at the briefing, but TMR learnt that the government will be faced with a reduced budget allocation this next financial year because of underspends during the preceding years.
“…but it is in our position right now to make sure that we clear up the bottlenecks that have been preventing jobs getting on the ground,” The Minister of Finance said.
Romeo told the media that his main task over the past few months has been fighting hard behind the scenes to make sure those bottlenecks are cleared up. Addressing the call for action and work on the ground, he offered: “…a lot more should be happening now and will be happening in the near future because of the pressures that are being put on the various parties over the past few months to make sure that the jobs get out.”
Meanwhile he repeated the UK Govt requirement to meet the needs of the Overseas Territories citizenry. “I am holding Her Majesty’s Government to this, I expect the people of Montserrat to hold the Government of Montserrat to negotiate strongly on this.”
Referring to a “newly established partnership,” which he says, “is geared towards new results,” he explains: “British policy states with regards to Montserrat that they will provide the majority of funds for infrastructure that will lend to the growth in our economies; that will help us to stand on our own two feet; and that is a commitment I expect to hold Her Majesty’s Government to.”
Speaking further on the jobs issue the leader of government business sought to confirm that the projects he outlined in a recent statement for execution this year are all genuine. He said he is moving to remove those doubts and confirming that funding has already been located for each one and that implementation is expected to start this month end or early February.
“I need to let the people of Montserrat know that many of the projects that I’ve mentioned practically all the projects I’ve mentioned in my statement have agreed funding to them,” speaking at the end of the talks. “All we need to do as a government is to make sure we get these projects moved to procurement and get them advertised and turned into jobs for people on the ground,” he concluded, adding, “There’s no reason why many of these projects should not have happened before Christmas,” promising that people will get working early in this quarter of the year.
