National Security Budget Increased By $2.7B Not $5B, Says Shaw

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw has dismissed as inaccurate, reports that the supplementary budget for the Ministry of National Security has been increased by upwards of $5.5 billion.

He says that the increase in the allocation to the Security Ministry is a natural outcome of the process of reallocating resources from areas where resources are not being used as programmed to areas where there is more immediate need.

The Finance Minister was speaking at a signing ceremony for the implementation agreement for the partial use of the National Procurement System of Jamaica for Inter-American Development Bank-financed projects at the Ministry’s Heroes Circle offices in Kingston today.

He says that while he will be speaking more fulsomely on the supplementary estimates in Parliament next Tuesday he needs to set the record straight at this time.

“The accurate increase is really $2.7 billion. That is a classic case where we were able to shift capital expenditure from some areas that the pace of expenditure wasn’t taking

place so fast.  We were able to move $2.7 billion to the Ministry of National Security,” Shaw said.

Shaw tabled the supplementary estimates in Parliament on Tuesday. Reports variously indicated that the government had increased the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of National Security to between $5.5 and $6 billion.

Shaw said the money will be spent on communications equipment and to increase the capacity of the police force.

He says two vessels are heading to Jamaica that will add to the national border protection and part of the increased allocation will go towards that effort.

Jamaica Gleaner