The Government of Montserrat is reallocating its resources to support the management of the COVID-19 disease by the Ministry of Health.
Deputy Premier and Minister of Communications and Labour, Dr Samuel Joseph, said in his most recent edition of “From the Minister’s Chair, that the current situation is unprecedented for Montserrat and the world. The first, priority he said it is the individual responsibility of each citizen to look after their health and personal situation. He said the government’s priority is first and foremost the health and safety of its citizenry and that has to take priority over economics.
The minister said the Financial Secretary has directed all ministries to freeze spending on recurrent budget activities so that funds could be reallocated to the tackle the health situation. This will also impact capital projects as well.
The fibre optic project is continuing. However, in light of countries advising their citizens not to leave, which means consultants and technical experts are unable to travel, the port, 750KW solar project will have delays. The solar street lighting project will continue the minister added. Project timelines are to be reviewed in light of the current delays.
“…what we are ensuring is that the internal things still continue, we cannot shut down the country. We have to remind ourselves that we will get through this dark period and we need to ensure we come out on the other side as fit and as best as possible so that we can immediately bounce back and get Montserrat moving again,” the minister said.
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