Less spent than anticipated on Manatt-Dudus enquiry

THE GOVERNMENT has set aside $21.4 million in this year's Budget for the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry.

At the same time, another $33.5 million has been budgeted for the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) commission of enquiry.

If Parliament approves the allocation for the Manatt-Dudus enquiry, it would move its cost to $60.8 million, significantly less than the amount Prime Minister Bruce Golding said it could cost.

Golding told the House of Representatives last month that the enquiry could leave the country with a $78-million bill.

"The final cost to the public purse of the enquiry cannot be determined until it is concluded," he said then.

Some $39.4 million was spent on the Manatt enquiry in the last fiscal year.

It is unclear if the taxpayers would be asked to spend more on the hearings.

Meanwhile, the $33.5 million spending that has been proposed for the FINSAC enquiry brings to $140.8 million, the amount spent in this area thus far.

More than $27 million was spent in last fiscal year on the FINSAC enquiry.

The Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry was set up to examine the Government's handling of an extradition request for west Kingston enforcer Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

The FINSAC enquiry is examining the meltdown of the financial sector in the 1990s.