by Bennette Roach
There has still been no news on the outcome of budget talks which took place in Montserrat towards the end of January. In fact there is a growing disquiet at the deafening silence from the Government of Montserrat, and particularly since the closure of activities at the Montserrat Development Corporation.
Media enquiries during the Governor’s February press conference yielded that “there was very little they (DFID) could say because it would have been the same thing – we suggested Y (one thing), Government of Montserrat is suggested X (another),” there were in on-going discussions. The Governor said it should be recognised that the aim is to have a budget that is agreed, that “need supplementary through the year…” that being the objective.
The discussions impacted heavily on the Premier and his Ministers, who according to reports suffered from a lack of experienced budget support, aggravated by important senior officer in the Ministry of Finance reporting ill, and off from work at the height of the talks. The result was the Premier who is also Minister of Finance and other Ministers were unable to attend the important OECS meeting in Martinique where that country became an associate member of the Organisation of East Caribbean States.
