(Excerpts of the Leader of the Opposition, Honourable Dr Godwin Friday’s Presentation on the Supplementary Estimates 2025)
In March, I asked the question of the Minister responsible about the status of the project (New Kingstown Port), about the funding, whether there were sufficient funds to complete the project. She indicated that they had sufficient funds to finance the project. But of course, costs vary and there are changes that happens during construction.
The point of the matter is, we have to know specifically what those costs are. Let us not hide from the fact, the elephant in the room here, is what is happening with the port. It’s $700 million and we look at it and we see that there are problems with the construction of it. We come to the parliament and all we get from the Minister and the various persons who speak about it publicly is that this is normal. How the hell that could be normal! If you build a house and somebody tells you put on the roof and Dr Friday your foundation is cracking, you’re to come and tell me that’s normal?
That this is to be expected in a project of this magnitude, that we are using industry standards to fix it. I don’t care what these industry standards are! What I want to know is whether people in this country are going to get value for the money. This is about $700 million for a poor country like ours. $600 million of that is borrowed money. You have to pay it back. And you are telling me; we want another $25.6 million. If you check the estimates for this year on page 774, this is where the money that was going to be needed to complete the project was outlined in the estimates. We have now a supplementary saying that you need more money.
It says on page 774, ‘there was $3 million for port development project, which is to be raised from local loans. In 2026, there’s a projected $11.5 million’. So next year, that money is to be spent on the port, never mind it is supposed to be done this year. Then you flip the page 776, it says at the bottom there is72.1 million dollars to be spent. Also, on the port that comes from money from Taiwan. In 2026 there is no money from that source so the money is finished with respect to that because the project is supposed to be done. Then you have below that from the CDB, $17.3 million to be spent this year. And you look to 2026; there was no projection for any money to be spent from the CDB. So, the money from the CDB is done.
In this year, in these estimates, we have allocated all the funding from those two sources to be spent on the project to complete it. Yes, that’s been spent. Now you’re telling me the project number is 601702. The Minister said, that we’re going to be getting 16 million dollars of the money that they want will come from the CDB. Where does that $16 million come from? if the money is already allocated, all of it is already allocated in the original estimates from January of this year. Where does that 16 million dollars come from? Are we getting additional money from the CDB? Because according to what you have on page 776, it says $17.3 million to be spent this year, no money next year. The assumption is that money is done. The money we got from the UK, that was spent even earlier, 2023 probably or 2024. So that is a question that hopefully the Minister will address. But that is not the key concern that I have with respect to this project.
We have seen that the project continues to have delays. It’s a major project. That happens; we understand that. But we need transparency. You’re hearing talk, and some of it conformed here in this House, that the project is supposed to be completed by the end of August, that’s what the Minister said to me when I asked the question back in March, that it would be completed by the end of August. The Minister of finance earlier this morning when he was presenting, that there still a projected completion date for the end of August.
I would like to know the extent of the repairs that are required. Who is determining what needs to be done? Who is paying for it? Because the Minister is coming here and asking for an additional amount of money, which is not within the estimates for the completion of the project. So this is money in addition to what he had projected in the estimates. And even more, twice as much as what they have said they would spend next year from local loans, because that was $11.5 million. He’s asking for $25.6 million. I would like to know, and I think the people of this country are entitled to know. What is the cost of the repair that is being undertaken now? How much is it costing to fix the declutching problem that we’re having, whether it’s the quay wall or the piles or however you describe it? The contractor is paying, yes, that’s a different question. I still need to know what is the cost of it. You say that the contractor is paying for that work. So let’s know exactly how much is at stake here.
We have to have our own eyes on the project to ensure that we are getting what we’re paying for. I know the contractors are very highly reputable. You hear this all the time. But while you trust, you have to verify? Because we have our own interests at stake.