House of Assembly lawmakers plan to vote on a new supplementary budget and three loans from the Caribbean Development Bank in a legislative sitting scheduled to begin Thursday.

The supplementary budget — necessary because the 2018 Appropriations Act has yet to be approved — is slated to earmark more than $101 million for the recurrent budget, $100,000 for capital acquisitions, and more than $2.7 million for capital projects, according to the sitting’s order paper. The money will be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund.

Government can utilise those appropriations for the first four months of 2018 or until lawmakers pass the actual 2018 budget.

Premier Dr. Orlando Smith also plans to move a motion approving an $11.87 million Consolidated Fund withdrawal to cover underbudgeted recurrent appropriations from 2016.

Additionally, Dr. Smith is scheduled to motion for three separate loans from the CDB, each worth $750,000. Each was offered by the bank in response to a natural disaster: one for the August floods, one for Hurricane Irma, and one for Hurricane Maria.

Questions and answers

The opposition members are also scheduled to ask a variety of questions on topics spanning from insurance claims, BVI Airways, the expansion of the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, electricity restoration, and international loan funding, among others.

Opposition Leader Andrew Fahie (R-D1) plans to ask the premier whether the territory’s insurance regulators will conduct a “forensic examination” of insurance companies’ assessments of residences and businesses to determine if people are being cheated out of insurance money.

He also plans to ask Dr. Smith whether he plans to set a deadline for the settlement of all insurance claims.

As he has in nearly every sitting for the past six months, Mr. Fahie is scheduled to quiz the premier about BVI Airways: He plans to ask whether government has served the company with a breach-of-contract notice; whether BVI Airways has served one to government; whether the company provided quarterly financial reports to government; and whether the company has maintained staff levels required under its licensing in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

As he has with other BVI Airways-related inquiries in previous sittings, Dr. Smith could decline to answer Mr. Fahie’s questions on the grounds that doing so would be “prejudicial” to the company’s commercial prospects.

Gov’t agencies

Opposition Member Julian Fraser (R-D3) plans to ask Dr. Smith which government agencies have been relocated and where they are currently operating. He also plans to ask the premier whether government is still expecting to move forward with the airport expansion project.

Additionally, the opposition member is scheduled to request an electricity restoration update from Communications and Works Minister Mark Vanterpool (R-D4).

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