Government Senator Abka Fitz-Henley is hailing the budget which has been approved in both houses of parliament as arguably the most far-reaching estimates of expenditure tabled in recent times, saying it presents a raft of positive opportunities for a wide cross-section of Jamaicans, including the youth, senior citizens, along with skilled and unskilled members of society.

Fitz-Henley says the $1.3 trillion budget is a signal that the administration has been particular about securing the interest of as many Jamaicans as possible across various demographics.

“There was a time under the PNP-administration, when budget time was feared. Now due to good management of the Jamaican economy, people across various cohorts of society, whether the young, middle aged or our senior citizens, the skilled or the unskilled, they can look at the voluminous yellow book which contains the estimates of expenditure, and confidently say the caring Government of Prime Minister Holness has taken their interest into consideration, there is something there for them,” Fitz-Henley posted on social media shortly after the Senate approved the appropriations bill.

Fitz-Henley elaborated on his argument that the budget presents major opportunities for the youth.

“When I say this is a budget for the young people of Jamaica, I allude to the move to remove the guarantor requirement to access tertiary education financing, I refer to the announcement that 4,200 grants of $60,000 each being made available to low income applicants of the Student Loan Bureau, I refer to the fact that online shoppers will be able to acquire more items without paying duties,” the Government senator said, adding “I also allude to the HOPE for Children Trust Fund where we seek to give young people a start in life via targeted intervention to reduce social gaps in the country. That’s a legacy initiative announced with the interest of youths in Jamaica firmly in mind.”

He described the annual Pension Exemption and Age Relief Exemption being increased from $80,000 to $250,000 each as an important aspect of the budget which he noted will result in a combined total of $500,000 per year of additional monies in the pockets of senior citizens.

“It’s a good move which shows that we care about and appreciate our senior citizens and are intentional about improving their standard of living,” Fitz-Henley reasoned.

The senator says the budget also augurs well for unskilled Jamaicans.

“I believe the latest available figures indicate that there’s still a lot of work to be done concerning the unemployment rate among young people in Jamaica. It is therefore encouraging that this Government has moved to introduce the Community Action for Rewarding Engagement (CARE) initiative aimed at reaching every young man and woman who is not working and is not enrolled in a training programme,” Fitz-Henley said.

The programme comes with a monthly transportation grant of $15,000 to offset transportation costs to the HEART TRUST institution that they will be enrolled in. All trainees under the CARE programme will receive an additional stipend of $13,000 per week for the duration of their training.

“I am confident that this programme can in a few years play an important part in bring youth unemployment further down from 12 per cent and well into single digits,” Fitz-Henley commented.