... Spend less CDF money on burials, more on training
Published:Saturday | November 13, 2021 | 12:06 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Member of Parliament (MP) for South East St Ann Lisa Hanna is urging several changes to how public funds are spent, in the face of rising cost of living.
In her contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate on Tuesday, Hanna proposed, among other suggestions, a change in how money from the Constituency Development Funds (CDF) is allocated for burials, suggesting better use could be made of such funds.
“The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has mandated a five per cent allotment of $1 million out of the $20 million allocation towards welfare assistance to persons. So far, we have spent close to $881,653.00 in South East St Ann, assisting persons with funeral expenses from this allocation,” Hanna noted.
“However, I have been asking myself whether we are spending too much money on the dead rather than on the living. Wouldn’t this allocation of taxpayers’ dollars from the CDF be better used for training, job creation and other human development projects?” she said.
Since the CDF was introduced in 2008, MPs have been allocated at least $250 million each, meaning that they have contributed over $12.5 million (or five per cent) in burial assistance to their constituents.
The balance of $237.5 million would have been spent on various projects, which, according to the Jamaica Information Service, would have included rehabilitation of houses for indigents, to fix roads, to fund agriculture projects, repair basic schools and community centres, back-to-school assistance, sports and healthy lifestyle projects. Constituents have also come to rely on their MPs for assistance with food, with Hanna confirming that there has been an increase in persons coming to her for help in this area.
Citing this, the MP is calling for an increase in the $7,000 per week minimum wage.
“It is truly impossible to expect anyone to sustain or adequately provide for themselves and their family on the current minimum wage of $7,000, especially as commodity prices continue to rise,” Hanna argued.
“We are now facing a deep crisis with the daily reality, that one mile up, or down, the road exists pervasive and visceral poverty for many Jamaicans across the country who are hungry and jobless. If we are to follow the national data, one in five youths in South East St Ann remained unemployed pre-pandemic. It is worse now.”
According to Hanna: “The CARE packages system of MPs delivering food, while necessary at this time, is unsustainable. What I need, what we all need, is for Jamaicans to be able to independently afford to live. Madam Speaker, we must be courageous. We need to urgently increase the minimum wage threshold with a focused plan to protect the poor during this time through.”