$500M for ‘Men on Mission’ approved after gruelling questions from Opposition

The Parliamentary Committee of Supply on Monday approved an allocated $500 million for President Dr Irfaan Ali’s ‘Men on Mission’ initiative but it came after the APNU+AFC Opposition unceasingly quizzed the allocation.

Answers were provided by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, who defended the funding in the House on Monday.

Fiduciary questions from the opposition benches specifically came from Ganesh Mahipaul and Juretha Fernandes, who both sit on the Public Accounts Committee with Teixeira.

The minister could not provide detailed answers to the questions.

She assured, nonetheless, that any use of the funds must go through the normal process and will be accounted for.

The said the sum of $500M was decided on following a projection of the kind of work to be done in 2023.

“The work programme was developed by its leaders and it has an estimate and projections of half a billion dollars, mostly for capital works.

“This allows the body to have access to funds that will be accounted for,” she assured.

Men on Mission has so far been engaged in constructing homes for indigent and vulnerable people across the country.

Dr. Ali has previously explained that during 2023, there would be a “massive push with community involvement,” which will see all the small pathways and roads rehabilitated.  Tree-planting exercises and other community infrastructural works will also be done by the communities.

The Head of State also emphasised that he does not want MoM to become a reactive initiative but a proactive one that is spread across the entire country.