KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Government has allocated $345 million to assist communities in replacing zinc fences with “aesthetically pleasing material”.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke made the announcement last night while closing a lengthy debate on the revised First Supplementary Estimates for 2020/21.

Clarke said that the response of communities that want to improve their physical outlook, has encouraged the Government to increase the community enhancement programme from a nominal $30 million — $40 million to $345 million per year.

“When I saw the reaction of residents (in his St Andrew North Western constituency) I said no, we have to increase it dramatically so that more people can benefit,” he told the House of Representatives.

“The idea is to do it in a way that there are certain public interest benefits,” he added, noting that there were main roads with corridors with zinc fences, which need to be replaced.

Closing the debate, Clarke also noted some fundamental changes to the budget tabled in February, with the threat of an 80 per cent reduction in revenues already signalled for 2020/21. He said that there is an immediate need to pass the supplementary estimates to be able to access some $34 billion to be spent on activities to control the spread of the coronavirus.

However, he explained that the government projects to spend only 1.8 percent below the $853 billion estimated in the original budget, based on projected revenues of $580 billion, plus $147 billion in debt as well as the cash component of $70 billion which was originally slated for debt reduction.

Balford Henry