Michael Halkitis Trashes Financial Sec Marlon Johnson
From Former Minister of State Michael Halkitis
On Allegations of Understating The Budget By The Now Financial Secretary
For Immediate Release
26 June 2018
I have read the following in the press this morning attributed to the Financial Secretary Marlon Johnson:
“Travel generally, they had it centralized, [which] made for indiscriminate spending,” he said of the Christie administration.
“…It was not properly budgeted for and accounted for. So a lot of what seems like increases – and this is the point the minister made and there are some examples of them in the annex of some of the major ones – are just proper accounting for known commitments because the net impact of that is in years past the budget was effectively understated.”
This is materially incorrect and does not accurately reflect the budgeting done when I was minister.
All expenses for travel by The Bahamas government were estimated and budgeted for in accordance with known, understood and lawful procedures. To suggest otherwise is inaccurate.
The FNM budgeting exercise and narrative are simply an exercise in moving facts and figures around to suit the narrative that they wish to portray of some kind of misfeasance and blame the PLP.
That is not the role of the Financial Secretary. It is regrettable that not only is the information inaccurate but it is also putting once again in the mouths of a public servant, political propaganda that bears no or little relationship to the truth.
End