PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VSA Emil Lee did not hesitate to inform the Members of Parliament on Tuesday when he reported to the Central Committee meeting to answer questions that the slashed budget that is being debated in parliament is what the current government inherited. Minister Lee said even though the Ministry of VSA is the Ministry that deals mostly with the lives of people they too had to suffice with the 10% cuts proposed by the Minister of Finance in order for him to be able to provide a balance budget for the year 2016, prior to the deadline while complying with the instructions given to former Government.
The Minister gave Parliament the figures of the unemployed, those figures he said came from statistics done in the year 2013 and at that time there were 1,900 people unemployed. However, he said based on the information he got showed that people with more education were more likely to find jobs.
As for monies to combat the Zika Virus the Minister said that there monies available to purchase the necessary products for fogging and materials for SLS labs for testing of the Zika virus. He assured that if more monies is needed should the island be affected with the latest virus then he is prepared to do some shifting in the budget he has to deal with the health related issues.
The Minister of VSA is scheduled to report to parliament later this week to continue answering questions that were posed by the Members of Parliament.
The slashed 2016 budget that is presented to Parliament is what the current government inherited --- Minister Emil Lee.
