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media houses in modern Jamaica. Further we have to contrast this increase with
three important institutions in the budgetary process:-
1)
The Court of Appeal with a budget of $246M, an increase of $31M or 6.9% -
just in line with inflation,
2)
The DPP with a budget of J$332M an increase of J$13M or 4% – below
inflation, and
3)
Ministry of Local Government and Community Development – NSWMA,
where their budget has been reduced from $1,005 to $815M, a reduction
by $190M or 19%, where only a paltry $75 million is allocated to roads and
land fill at the Riverton City Dump.
Mr Speaker, the Court of Appeal and the DPP budgets combined are J$578M or a
mere $56M higher than the JIS budget. In summary this tells you about this
Government’s priorities. They would rather have an adequate budget for
announcements and propaganda, than prioritize what is really important for the
Jamaican people.