GREAT BAY:--- Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor, Cornelius De Weever would like to clarify why his ministry has not been able to comply with the budget demands as stated by the CFT in an article of the TODAY newspaper of Tuesday, August 12, 2014. At this point any budgetary amendments from his ministry is near impossible, as the ministry has reached a bare minimum and any additional cuts would not enable the ministry to execute the legislative tasks it is tasked with.
"In order to pass the 2014 Budget, the private sector now pays its own fair share of health care premiums which provides medical insurance to their clients and family members for such a low price." said Minister De Weever.
Minister De Weever also indicated a request to amend the budget as it pertains to the health care expenses of civil servants; to transfer said costs from the budget of Public Health, Social Development & Labor to the budget of General Affairs or allocated to the personnel budget of each respective Ministry by means of an allocation key.
Minister De Weever further stated that the budget of his ministry in particular is pegged to a year plan including key performance indicators, and also to an end of year report that accounts for every penny spent. I believe all other ministries that function without a year plan should reform and provide more accountability. In addition, the Ministry is finalizing a National Strategic Plan 2014-2017 with a multi annual operational plan and budget, which will limit the absorption of any sudden or unexpected reductions and ensure continuity within the ministry.
"I would like to point out that the Ministry of Public Health Social Development & Labor, submitted a budget close to the financial parameters as outlined by the Ministry of Finance for the preparation of the 2015 budget. Any additional budget cuts placed on my Ministry, while other ministries expand their costs does not reflect the importance of introducing cost cutting and efficiency enhancing measures to meet the capped country budget," said Minister De Weever.
Minister De Weever cannot emphasize enough that with no signs of a robust economic recovery in sight, the need for a sufficiently funded social safety net and supporting social programs remain imperative and any further decrease in the budget can be considered detrimental.
