Abaco budget cuts 'a mistake'

Fri, Jul 26th 2013, 11:52 AM

A letter informing the Hope Town District Council that its budget would be cut to a degree that would have left it facing a "crisis of immense proportions" was incorrect, Guardian Business has been told.

Chief Councillor for the Hope Town District Council Jeremy Sweeting made an impassioned speech to Abaco residents on Tuesday after learning by letter that the local government council he heads would see its budget cut by $300,000 or 27 percent.

He said the severity of the cut would have left the council and the community of islands it administers severely handicapped.

Calling the cuts "shameful" given the estimated $5.4 million the district returned to Treasury in the year, Sweeting said the budget reduction would "cripple this district and force a shutdown of services".

However, in an interview with Guardian Business yesterday, Sweeting said he has been informally advised that the letter outlining the budget cut was incorrect, and their budget would not be reduced so severely.

"I've been informed to that effect by Halkitis (minister of state for finance).

I haven't received any written communication to that effect. "We are overjoyed this isn't the case. We expected a budget cut because of the downturn in the economy and the budget exercise we were going through, but just not of those proportions.

We are happy to know it is a typographical error and it is being corrected, although up until now we've had no formal communication stating the amount that we will get."

Messages left seeking comment from Halkitis were not returned up to press time yesterday.

These developments come weeks after protests from the Abaco marina community regarding a rise in fees for boat cruising permits, implemented on July 1st, resulted in the fees being retracted.

Tourism stakeholders were concerned that the fee increases would affect the all-important boating industry in the Abaco islands.

In this instance, Guardian Business was also informed by Halkitis that the fee rise was an unintended mistake and the fees would revert to their former amount.

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