The Cabinet Office has been working to restore and preserve records stored at the R&R Malone Complex, some of which were damaged by soot from a fire and need to be cleaned, according to Deputy Cabinet Secretary Vicki Samuel-Lettsome.

Speaking during the April deliberations of the Standing Finance Committee, Ms. Samuel-Lettsome also gave updates on other matters including building repairs, and the binding of Gazette issues, according to a report on the closed-door SFC proceedings.

Ms. Samuel-Lettsome said the effort to restore the R&R Malone Complex documents is part of the Cabinet Records Preseveration Project.

The Archives Unit will assist with the effort, which will cost $5,664.98, according to the deputy secretary.

Meanwhile, another project to bind annual volumes of the Gazette is about four years behind and will cost about $12,770.70 to bind the issues for 2015 and 2016, she added.

Office still displaced Cabinet Secretary Sandra Ward said that the Cabinet Office was displaced by the 2017 hurricanes and it is still temporarily located on two floors of the Sebastian Building in Road Town.

She added that the office had to purchase humidifiers following a report from the Environmental Health Unit which said that the air quality in the building was “challenging,” according to the SFC report.

She also said that some officers could not return to work in the building, and she asked for readjustments to “the allotment given under the provisional warrant totaling $14,464.28” as well as a more permanent location for the office.

Opposition Leader Marlon Penn said that there had been discussions “regarding the possibility of utilising the same module used to host Cabinet meetings” and asked “whether a similar module had been explored to use it for House of Assembly meetings,” according to the SFC report.

Ms. Ward confirmed that those discussions were held but said “the use of the module for House of Assembly meetings was not budgeted for, and would be handled separately,” the report noted.

She added that the Gazette Unit grossed $462,650 in revenue in 2018 from commercial notices and Gazette subscriptions and sales — a 16 percent decrease from 2017 and the lowest gross revenue collected since 2015, which amounted to $413,815.

Ms. Ward added that the unit averaged an income of $38,544 per month in 2018, and has collected $113,489 up to the end of March.

She went on to request an additional $58,595 in supplementary funding to cover the costs associated with Premier Andrew Fahie’s pledge to hold Cabinet meetings on sister islands.

Ms. Ward added that the Cabinet “had commenced digital meetings,” and she requested funding for a new module for the National Security Council.

Cadet Corps

Second District Representative Mitch Turnbull said he had an ongoing concern related to his chairmanship of the VI Cadet Corps, which “needed to be addressed as soon as possible” and asked about whether funding and accommodation were set aside for the programme.

Ms. Ward said that $50,000 was allocated in the budget for the VI Cadet Corps Council and that payments would be disbursed on a quarterly basis.

She added that she was not aware of any accommodation for the Council, and said it would be addressed by the Council members when they convened their meetings.