Barbuda Council mulls legal action against gov’t to address non-payment of subvention

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By Elesha George

A recent letter to the Barbuda Council from the Ministry of Finance, has prompted the entity to consider taking legal action against Central Government.

“We’re contemplating that – as a matter of fact, we have forwarded the letter to our attorneys,” Member of Parliament for Barbuda Trevor Walker said, when asked about possible legal action that could be taken to address months of non-payment of the monthly subvention owed to the Barbuda Council, which is needed to pay Council workers.

His response followed the receipt of the letter from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Sean Cenac, indicating that the government is “constrained by its inability to pay” the Council for the month of September.

That letter was dated the 25th of September, months after an initial letter of inquiry was sent by the Barbuda MP about transfer grants and the philatelic sale of stamps.

“Basically, what the letter is saying is that the government regrets that it cannot meet its obligation to Barbuda. They cannot pay us the money that they are supposed to be paying us on a monthly basis,” Walker said, noting that the missive had been copied to the Barbuda Council, the Accountant General and to Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

During a two-hour long Facebook live broadcast on Tuesday, October 15th 2019 Walker shared that Council workers have been owed for months, due to slow remittances from Central Government and this has been hindering the island’s economic development.

Read more in today’s newspaper

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