Constituency Development Fund’s Importance Highlighted

The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has been pivotal in the delivery of key provisions to citizens islandwide by parliamentary representatives.

Its main thrust is to promote human and infrastructure development at the community and constituency levels through the establishment of sustainable projects.

These include infrastructure development, education assistance and cultural and sporting activities, economic enablement, disaster mitigation, as well as welfare and emergency assistance.

To date, CDF resources have been used to rehabilitate houses for indigent persons, road repairs, undertaking agricultural projects, repairing basic schools and community centres, providing back-to-school assistance, and assisting with sports and healthy lifestyle projects.

Wife of the Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for St. Andrew East Rural, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, says a total of $20 million is provided to Members of Parliament under the CDF.

Speaking during the Love 101 radio programme, ‘Good Morning Minister’, on Wednesday (June 21), Mrs. Holness, noted that “the idea behind the CDF is [for it to be used as] an emergency response in areas where you would have been advocating as a representative to [entities for assistance]”.

“[So, if] you need to fix a road and you’re not getting it at the speed that you would like, you can now look at the CDF with your community members or your constituents and say ‘alright, what do you… think is important’, and [if] they say [for] this road we just need $1 million… you can do it through the CDF,” she explained.

Mrs. Holness, who is Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, indicated that, over time, “people are getting to understand that government is functioning in a way that [ensures] we are accountable”.

“A big part of that accountability is ensuring that the people that get the benefit genuinely need it and that they can track the persons that get it,” she added.