Reducing ministerial expenditure and stopping “squandermania” allowed the Irfaan Ali-led administration to free up funds to assist the citizenry, says Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall. His statement comes against the backdrop of several relief mechanisms established by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) upon assuming office in August last year. These include the $25,000 COVID-19 cash grant to citizens, uniform vouchers for schoolchildren, and another $25,000 grant for selected public servants.
Nandlall said that the monies are coming from the slashing of perks, he claimed, which were enjoyed by the former Coalition ministers.
“Where is the money coming from is the question. The money is coming from right here! The only difference is: you have a new government – you have a new culture in government; you have a new style in government. So, we don’t waste two or more billion dollars per year in food – just food at the government level. We take that money and give all the children of our country cash grants. Just by stop eating so much – food at the level of the government over $2B per year! [We] stopped travelling in the way that they (former government ministers) used to travel. Every minister use to be five, six per week out of this country, and they were allowed to travel with their spouses first-class,” he said.
Nandlall noted, too, that the coalition spent some $170M in legal fees to fight battles they knew were unwinnable pre- and post-March 2.
“Count that [$170M] and see how many people we can distribute COVID grants to, if we take the money they waste behind lawyers…We stopped all that Squandermania! So, that is where we get all the monies from to give back to the people, ” he said.
