Less $ in Budget for Port

The Port Authority received a reduction in its expenditure allocation in the 2017/2018 Budget.

According to the 2018 Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure, this allocation was decreased from $70,514,000 in 2017 to $45,767,0908 in 2018.

The Port Authority is one of several statutory bodies which falls under the Works and Transport Ministry. The Airports Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority also had decreases in expenditure. Those respective decreases were $28,803,500 and $10,000.

There was no change in the allocation for the Public Transport Service Corporation which was maintained at $304,000,000.

The overall expenditure for the ministry was maintained at $2,150,942,325 from 2017 to 2018. Under the ministry, there was a $5,041,600 expenditure for the payment of fees for legal and quantity surveying services with respect to Brazilian firm Construtora OAS, in 2016.

Construtora was the former lead contractor for the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension Project. There are revised estimates of $942,290 for payment of those fees in 2017. That figure is further reduced to $500,000 in 2018.This item of expenditure is associated with the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco). For the repayment of a $1.5 billion loan associated with that project, Nidco’s expenditure has been reduced from $206,874,375 in 2017 to $200,231,250 in 2018.

The document also shows Nidco has an allocation of $43,514,639 for a term loan facility for four new fast ferries, for 2018.

This is a reduction of $5,057,400 from the 2017 allocation of $48,572,039 for this facility. For repayment of the Aranjuez/El Socorro Overpass, Nidco has an allocation of $33,380,710 for 2018. This is a reduction of $1,539,885 from the 2017 allocation for this expenditure.

Nidco also has an allocation of $20,631,598 in 2018 for repayment of Trinidad Rapid Rail Transit Systems. This allocation was $21,801,391 in 2017. Government has previously announced that it would not be pursuing a rapid rail system due to the country’s economic circumstances. The expenditure for the water taxi service was reduced from $58,961,696 in 2017 to $54 million in 2018.