Minister Hassan gives details of expenses/collection from the COVID 19 Relief Fund to the National Assembly
June 15, 2021
As of 31st May, a total of R78.71million has been collected in the COVID 19 Relief Fund.
The figure was made public in the National Assembly this morning by the Minister for Finance, Economic Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan, while answering a Private Notice Question from the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Sebastian Pillay.
Hon. Pillay wanted to know about expenses incurred in the COVID 19 Relief Fund.
Minister Hassan explained that all “expenses incurred in the fund are related to the pandemic currently hitting the country as per its Terms of Reference.”
All requests are made by the Health Care Agency, and they follow the procurement rules. The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade only processes and authorizes payments.
As of 28th May, a total of R58.9 million has been spent from the COVID-19 Relief Fund.
The main expense is a sum of R52.2 million to buy consumables, such as ‘extraction machine kits, consumables for COVID 19 tests, isolation gowns and face masks.’
Another sum of R2.8 million has been spent for Isolation Centres.
Donations can either be made directly in the COVID 19 Relief Fund or cheques are made and delivered to the Ministry of Finance to deposit in the account at the Central Bank Seychelles.
“All due diligence is undertaken by the Central Bank Seychelles.”
Minister Hassan has said as per the fund’s terms of reference, the account will be audited by the Office of the Auditor General and the report will be made public.
MNAs will be given a list of expenses incurred from the fund.
“Once the mid-year review is done, a first publication on the COVID-19 Relief Fund will be issued before 15th July, taking into consideration all expenses up to 30th June 2021.”
Minister Hassan said currently there is a balance of R19.8 million in the COVID-19 Relief Fund.
Apart from the COVID-19 Relief Fund, some administrative costs totaling R11.7million have been made under Contingency Fund.
The breakdown is as follows:
- R2.5 million to pay ex-URS staff working with the Health Care Agency
- R465,661 to pay retired nurses and those working in the private sector who are assisting the Health Care Agency
- R812,941for other expenses such as buying of laptops use for contact tracing and training
Minister Hassan also answered an Urgent Question tabled by the MNA for Baie Ste Anne Praslin, Hon. Churchill Gill, asking whether SEYPEC plans to stop subsidizing fuel cost for the running of the electricity plant and LPG Gas on Praslin and La Digue.
The answer was a simple NO. To note the value of subsidy for fuel for the year 2020 for Praslin was R22 million and for La Digue was R4.5 million.