St Helena : DFID Provides St Helena with an Extra £4 Million
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 04.04.2009 (Article Archived on 18.04.2009)
The Department for International Development has given St Helena over £4 million in additional funds this year for expenditure in the coming financial year.
DFID Provides St Helena with an Extra £4 Million
The Department for International Development has given St Helena over £4 million in additional funds this year for expenditure in the coming financial year.
Announcing the news, Governor Andrew Gurr said that the additional funds will make a positive and practical difference to the Island. Governor Gurr added that this success would never have been realised had it not been for the strong working relationship that exists between SHG and DFID.
DFID Representative, Eddie Palmer said “the additional funding is the result of many months of hard work within SHG and DFID. St Helena needs this money, although getting it was not easy.”
£2.25 million is to be used for rockfall protection and this will allow for work to continue above Jamestown.
£1.56 million will go towards upgrading the Island’s infrastructure. This money was awarded through a new initiative known as frontloading, whereby DFID agreed that it would give St Helena additional funding if the Island made significant progress in achieving certain agreed targets. These targets relate to activities such as the public sector modernisation programme, reforming legislation and further improving health in the community.
Finally, £200,000 will go into a newly created Chief Secretary’s Small Grants Fund (CSSGF). Speaking today about the fund, Andrew Wells said that the bulk of the money will be used to provide incentives to retain people in SHG who hold positions that are critical to the delivery of public services. Details are now being worked out so that incentives can be in place soon.
DFID’s injection of just over £4 million is in addition to more than £17 million which St Helena has already received from DFID for the current financial year. This will bring their total contribution in 2008/09 to around £21 million. This represents a substantial increase for St Helena compared to the £17.6 million the Island received in 2007/08.
Looking ahead things look even brighter since, in a written answer to the House of Commons on 27 March 2009, Michael Foster, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, said that DFID support to St Helena over the next five years, including the financial year 2008/09, is expected to be between £20 million and £25 million per annum. The Minister added that this does not include capital expenditure on future access arrangements following the outcome of the consultation announced on 16 March.
The St Helena Government takes this opportunity publicly to thank DFID for investing in the future of the Island and its people.
Public Relations/Information Office
Office of the Chief Secretary
2 April 2009
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