$96 billion in missed opportunities

NEARLY $100 billion allocated to Jamaica’s capital budget over the past decade went unspent, leaving major road, water, and health infrastructure projects severely underfunded and depriving Jamaicans across the island of critical improvements, Opposition Senator Ramon Small-Ferguson has charged. He made the claim during his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on October 9, arguing that the Government’s failure to utilise the allocated funds has hampered investment in essential public infrastructure. According to Small- Ferguson, the economic reforms that started under the Portia Simpson Miller Administration, when Dr Peter Phillips was finance minister, created the fiscal space from which the current Andrew Holness-led Government has benefited. But, he lamented what he called “missed opportunities”. Citing that the country’s capital budget finances roads, water systems, hospitals, and other infrastructure that improve public services and expand our capacity to grow, Small-Ferguson said, “Budgeting for that investment is a commitment. Delivering it is the responsibility [of Government].” The Opposition senator told Parliament that over the 10 financial years from 2016/17 to 2025/26, approximately $635.7 billion was originally budgeted for capital expenditure by central government. Of that amount, approximately $539.4 billion was actually spent. “That is a cumulative shortfall of $96.3 billion,” he noted. Small-Ferguson highlighted that actual expenditure fell below the original allocation in nine of the 10 years. He said approximately $61.8 billion of the cumulative gap arose through budget reductions while another $34.5 billion remained unspent against revised allocations. The lawmaker, who is also chief executive officer at Barita Investments Limited, outlined that in 2023/24 the Government originally budgeted $75.4 billion and spent $55.9 billion, leaving a $19.5-billion gap. In 2024/25, delivery fell $22.5 billion short of the original allocation, while in 2025/26 it was $14.8 billion short. Reiterating that this was a “massive missed opportunity”, Small-Ferguson stated that a $96.3-billion shortfall could fund a “massive programme of works”. “It could fit four Cornwall Regional Hospital redevelopments; it could fit two SPARK programmes; we could build 10 Spanish Town Hospital redevelopment projects; we could do seven Rio Cobre Water Treatment projects; we could build 100 health centres with this money,” he said. “Together, these amount to approximately $92.5 billion — still $3.8 billion below the shortfall. This comparison illustrates the scale of roads, water systems, hospitals, and community health care that could have been advanced through more consistent investment and delivery,” he added. Small-Ferguson argued that delay carries a cost, as transport operators pay for repairs, farmers lose time and produce reaching markets, businesses lose productive hours without reliable water, and patients wait for improved facilities. “We pay through higher eventual costs and years of benefits foregone,” he insisted. He also acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent hurricanes imposed extraordinary demands on the budget but argued that they cannot explain a delivery problem that persisted across the decade, “including in the better years when we had the opportunity to strengthen Jamaica before the next crisis”. “Again, I say that we did not take sufficient advantage of those years. Roads, water systems, and health facilities that could have strengthened communities and supported production remained undelivered. We entered harder times still carrying weaknesses we should have addressed,” he argued. “This is one reason we struggle to grow. Businesses need reliable infrastructure to expand. After 10 years, procurement difficulties and capacity constraints cannot remain recurring explanations without a programme to correct them. Jamaicans should not face the next crisis still waiting for projects promised before the last one,” Small-Ferguson said. He made several recommendations to the Government that he said could reverse the current trend. Among them was that within six months the Government should lay before Parliament a programme identifying the principal sources of delay, the reforms required, the institution responsible for each reform, and its implementation deadline.