BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Federation’s Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, declared that there is only $200M remaining in the fund of the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation.
Dr. Harris made this declaration during the question and answer segment of his Monthly Press Conference held yesterday afternoon (Apr. 28) in the Parliamentary Lounge.
“We have been able since taking office to have gone through the maze of documents and we have some information which I could report in relation to the SIDF. Bearing in mind that these are not necessarily audited financial information.
“The preliminary results would indicate that from December 2007 to December 2014 the SIDF received aggregate income of $1.47 billion. The spendthrift Administration, just gone out, supported expenditure from that fund of $1.26 billion. The SIDF up to 2014 had received aggregate income of $1.4 billion. At the end of that said reported period, they had expended out of that fund $1.26 billion. The Foundation in a very real sense operated in the eyes of many as a slush fund and an alternative government for the ex-regime,” was Dr. Harris’ response to a question on the financial status of the SIDF.
He also declared that there is only $200M in the fund.
“The fund in which people believe there are billions of dollars now has a paltry $200 million thereabout available. Against these task resources, now available are commitments against that fund of EC$126 million in what has been described as one-off commitments, and it has ongoing commitments of approximately $75 million, including the commitments to sustain the PEP programme.
“So, $200 million available in cash, near cash assets, and against that ongoing commitments...75, plus another 126 million already committed to other entities.”
PM Harris lamented that that is the situation his Team Unity Government met when it took office following the February 16 General Elections, noting it was interesting that the advice of the IMF about how the then Administration should have utilised the windfall had fallen on deaf ears.
He proffered the view that the former Administration did not intend to leave any money in the fund for the Team Unity Government to conduct the country’s financial affairs.
“The Government almost, in an insane act of desperation, figured that the money either shouldn’t last or the new Government must not have any access to resources, and it went on a spending fantasy.”
The Prime Minister also informed what income the fund realised in 2013 and the amount expended during the said year.
“In 2013 the Government spent out of that fund $419.4 million, aggregate expenditure. The income for 2013 into the Foundation was $337.5 million. The Government that the people just rejected on February 16 was prepared to bankrupt the fund if that trajectory would have continued.
“They had $337 million inflow into the Foundation. They were prepared to spend $419...overspent $91.9 million in 2013.”
The Federation’s Political Leader asserted that a similar situation occurred in the following year and he insinuated that the Labour Party had wanted to buy its way back into Government.
“In 2014, a similar pattern of abnormal expenditure relative to the inflows into the Foundation became part of the pattern, as desperate men lose focus and considered that they could buy their way back into the offices of the Government. Thankfully, wisdom prevailed and they are where they are and the people are now better for it.”
He explained that the SIDF was established in 2006 with the aim of contributing to the diversification of the country’s economy following the closure of the sugar industry.
“It was intended to bring hope, new economic opportunities to the former sugar workers principally. That never realised! You could hardly point to one former sugar worker who has received anything substantial directly from the SIDF,” he added.
Dr. Harris reminded what Team Unity’s position on the SIDF was during the elections campaign.
“The SIDF, we know during the campaign referred to it as a cash cow, a slush fund, because there was no accountability with respect to that particular Foundation. And if you would go to the IMF Reports, at least for the year 2014, they would say that they received promises from the former Administration acknowledging that there is an absence of accountability and that they were prepared to make available financial statements at line for all the world to see. No such promise by the former Government has been met!”
He claimed that 2011 was the last time an audited financial statement for the SIDF was seen, but after that “the shop closed. No one was to see, because the SIDF had become the private property de facto of the leader of the country”.
