The government has significantly scaled backed its budget for this yearﾴs Independence Day celebrations, allocating $575,000 to mark the countryﾴs 31st year as a sovereign nation.
Deputy Chairman of the Independence Day Celebrations Committee Peter Deveaux-Isaacs said Monday the government is looking to tap into private corporate funding in the coming years.
Last year, organizers came under fire for spending over $1 million in commemoration of the Bahamasﾴ 30th anniversary.
Opposition Leader Tommy Turnquest said Monday that given the countryﾴs limited resources, the government needs to determine what it can afford to spend on national festivities and stick to that figure.
ﾓHaving decided on a set amount we have to ensure that we do not exceed that amount like we did last year,ﾒ he said.
ﾓLast year we had a contingency warrant that we did not find out about until this yearﾴs budget exercise and that was for $850,000 ﾖ over and above the amount budgeted for.ﾒ
Budgeted amounts for national events are listed under Head 6, which represents the Cabinet Office expenditures. In 2003/2004, the budgeted amount for national events was $801,648.
Mr. Turnquest claims that that figure did not include the $850,000 the Ministry of Tourism reportedly received a contingency warrant for.
Once a budget passes through the House of Assembly and Senate, any spending over the parliamentary approved figure has to be approved by Cabinet through a contingency warrant.
Parliament is then asked to approve the warrant through a supplementary appropriation bill.
Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs, said the government made the decision to have a ﾓgrandﾒ celebration every five years – the last ﾓbigﾒ celebrations being the countryﾴs 30th anniversary.
ﾓOn the 35th anniversary we expect to have celebrations on a larger, grander scale,ﾒ he said. ﾓDuring the interval years the plan is to have scaled down celebrations. Scaled down only to the extent that government funds will be reduced.ﾒ
Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs added, ﾓWe canﾴt expect the government to fund the entire Independence Day celebrations at the national level. It is not done in any other country. That is something the committee wants to explore in the coming years.ﾒ
According to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Colin Higgs, this yearﾴs festivities will maintain the same high standards.
But he said, ﾓThere will be no big name groups, which was a major expense in 2003. This year, there will be gospel and secular concerts, but our focus will be on Bahamian youths.ﾒ
In 2003, the government paid out big bucks to attract big name performers like BahaMen and the T-Connection.
Mr. Turnquest said his Free National Movement party will push to get a breakdown of exactly what the $575,000 for this yearﾴs Independence celebrations will cover.
ﾓWe know that the government wishes to have celebrations on various islands and thatﾴs commendable and quite necessary, but it still would seem that doing those necessary things should not come to over 500,000,ﾒ he said.
ﾓThey are spending the publicﾴs money, so it is incumbent upon them to give a detailed break down of what this $575,000 represents and it is also incumbent upon them not to exceed that amount in anyway like they exceeded the amount last year.ﾒ
Tosheena Robinson-Blair, The Bahama Journal
