Members of the New National Party and Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition were shocked to hear the remarks made by new Minister of Finance, the Honourable Nazim Burke, saying “It’s an absolute mess!” referring to the Government’s finances, claiming that the Government may not be able to honour salary commitments to Government Employees, while at the same time saying he did not want to scare people. The Opposition is very concerned that while the Minister made this apparent disclosure, the Government, not yet two months in office, has already contradicted itself by its own spending patterns. Ministers are already traveling extensively and regularly a practice they criticized. In addition new vehicles are being purchased for Ministers and other officials while new furniture is being purchased for many offices; free schoolbooks are being promised to private school students, but most surprisingly new furniture has been ordered for the Prime Minister’s Residence, even though the furniture already in it was only purchased about three months ago. This unnecessary expense is by far the most excessive, because it has absolutely no public benefit at all. How many people struggling with the cost of living could have benefitted from the thousands of dollars spend on this excess? Further to all of this, the new top heavy government includes sixteen Ministers as opposed to an NNP administration of eleven. There is also the added irony that the NDC was also very critical of the NNP for increasing the Cabinet by one person to add a Youth Minister: Now the NDC have two. The NDC Government has appointed a large number of Advisors to compliment the already expanded team of Ministers. Already concerns have been raised about the professionalism of some Advisors and workers having very little to do on a daily basis. In addition, the government will now have to rent additional office space to house the additional workers now being hired.. When these expenditures are viewed in light of the Finance Minister’s comments, the Opposition would like to know what role the Waste Reduction Unit, planned for the Ministry of Finance, will be doing about these early excesses. It must also be noted that for the last 13 years, the Government of Grenada has always been able to meet its salary commitments, even after Hurricane Ivan when the Government of Grenada literally had no revenues coming in at all. It is the Oppositions proven experience that running the country’s finances is a totally manageable task if those in authority have strong enough financial management skills to fit the responsibility entrusted to them. The Opposition is warning the public that the inflammatory statements made by the Minister of Finance are a ploy set to deceive the public. Spending habits in the first month in Office, clearly indicate that the Government will soon need to introduce income or other taxes to support their lofty lifestyles, while also preparing to reduce the public expectations on promises made during the campaign. The public finances were no secret to the opposition. Their members sat on the finance committee and requested all the information needed. The former Prime Minister always warned that certain requests made by the union and the opposition were not possible based on the country’s financial situation, but the opposition consistently urged the government to spend, spend, spend. If Minister Burke’s concerns are genuine, Her Majesty’s Opposition would like to suggest that prematurely removing the NRL from the books is not a wise choice if choosing between paying salaries and removing a tax four months earlier than scheduled. In addition, the Opposition would like to suggest that maintaining some of the NNP practices, such as the “Essential only Travel” for all Government Staff, including Ministers, insisting that Ministers use their own vehicles, except in special cases, using the office furniture and equipment that is available unless it is impedes performance or is donated, and sometimes staff even signed an inventory sheet for parker pens. The Opposition would also like recommend that immediately halting all excessive spending; such as the vehicle and furniture purchases, top heavy government appointments and more be halted immediately – particularly since these already, in the first month in office, exceed the spending the Congress called ‘Corruption’ while in Opposition. A perspective of the New National Party (NNP) Inside Grenada News