Dr. Kato Kimbugwe is DFID’s representative on Montserrat and is primarily their private sector development expert. Since 2010 DFID reduced their personnel on island and merged into the Governor’s office. He was for the first time guest when Governor Adrian Davis hosted his monthly press conference which had been postponed from the usual 2nd Wednesday in the month to January 25, 2012.
The Premier Reuben Meade who on occasion sits with the Governor at the press conference had been away in Europe attending meetings with another five persons from his Ministry. (They were attending the one-day meeting, which precedes the annual EU-OCT Forum January 24 – 26. Accompanying Premier Meade were Financial Secretary John Skerritt, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Premier Beverley Mendes, Cabinet Secretary Angela Greenaway, Head of the Montserrat UK Office Janice Panton and Director of Project Aid Joseph Irish.)
The Premier had said regarding the budget talks: “We had a wrap up meeting with DFID we have been told this is the amount will go back to the UK and recommend to our minster…the net effect is we’re not giving you anymore money, we’re not recommending giving you any more money. There comes a point in time when you say you will not be relegated to the status of beggar and this country will not be relegated to that state of being beggars…”
Dr. Kimbugwe responded to the question whether the DFID team and the UK were causing Montserrat to be in a position that cast them as beggars as the Premier had alluded in the Legislative Assembly. The Premier was then addressing the accusation of leader of the opposition Donaldson Romeo, that the Government had not been using persuasive enough arguments on behalf of Montserrat to DFID.
Kimbugwe said: “We’re development partners it’s not a question of one party begging and the other one wielding the stick or anything. It’s a good debate in terms of the discussion we have with Montserrat here, and it’s a question of, if you want to spend this amount of money, can you justify it. Then on our part we need to justify it back to UK tax payers as to why you are funding a specific program.
He said that they have the same responsibility in the UK as government has to Montserratians. “… so in as much as they need to justify to you Montserratians locally how they are spending possibly your tax dollars that they collect, as well as the amount of money provided by the UK Government, we on the other hand have to justify any investments made in Montserrat, be it budgetary or capital…” he concluded.
(Source http://www.leewardstimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1521&catid=34)
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