00:00Austin says the Chairman's Fund supports charitable courses, educational assistance and cultural and religious celebrations.
00:08They know what the funding and use of the Chairman's Fund is for and how it's specified in law.
00:12It's for charitable courses, which we've added a charitable element.
00:16It's for groceries and scholarships, which we continue to support evenly with back-to-school drives, educational initiatives and so
00:22forth.
00:23It's for cultural and religious celebrations, which we've had.
00:26The fund cannot be used for development projects.
00:29The Chairman is also pointing to a reduction in the Cooperation's Development Programme allocation from $17.27 million in 2026
00:38to $9 million in 2027.
00:41That represents a reduction of $8.27 million, or approximately 48%.
00:47However, Austin rejects allegations that UNC Health Districts have been excluded from the proposed development program.
00:55He says the list of proposed projects has not yet been submitted to the Council for consideration and approval.
01:02Nothing on the record shows any issues from them until now, simply because of this random belief that they never
01:10came to Council for approval.
01:11Nothing on development projects has come to Council for approval.
01:15Austin is also challenging the UNC Councillor's decision to boycott the celebrations.
01:19He claims all four UNC councillors, who attended the November 10th Finance Standing Committee meeting, voted in favor of the
01:28proposed Tunapuna Week expenditure.
01:31They voted at us unanimously last Tuesday, full budget for the Tunapuna Week, and this has been the case for
01:38the last three, four years.
01:39The Chairman further maintains that the Cooperation has provided assistance across electoral districts, regardless of political affiliation.
01:47Tunapuna Week celebrations began on Friday and are expected to continue over the coming days with a charitable initiative and
01:55a civic awards ceremony among the planned events.
01:58Aksha Galston, TV6 News.
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