PHILIPSBURG--Government is unable to determine where funds collected under a previous pilot one-cent fuel levy for sports were ultimately allocated, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) Melissa Gumbs said on Wednesday.
The pilot was introduced under former ECYS Minister Rodolphe Samuel. The minister made the remarks while responding to a question she received for a Question Hour in Parliament on Wednesday during discussions on the establishment of a dedicated Sports Fund financed in part through a levy on fuel imports.
Gumbs said the Ministry is attempting to establish “a complete and verified account” of the pilot programme conducted under the previous administration and wanted to be transparent with Parliament about the current status of the process. “We have been informed by the Ministry of TEATT that a levy of CG 0.01 per litre was indeed collected during the pilot period,” Gumbs said.
However, she explained that the Ministry of ECYS has so far been unable to determine exactly where the funds went after being collected. “However, the Ministry of ECYS has thus far been unable to confirm the financial trail of those collections, specifically, where the funds were earmarked and ultimately allocated,” the minister stated.
According to Gumbs, the situation exposed accountability weaknesses that government now hopes to address through the proposed Sports Fund Ordinance. “This is precisely the kind of accountability gap that the Sports Fund Ordinance, with its dedicated banking structure, independent fund administrator, and mandatory auditing requirements, is designed to permanently address,” she said.
The minister revealed that the Ministry has now requested fuel import invoices from the Customs Department covering the relevant period in order to verify whether the CG 0.01 levy was actually applied at the point of import. “These invoices will allow us to verify whether the CG 0.01 levy was in fact applied at the point of import, as this would be reflected in the customs documentation,” Gumbs explained.
She said once the documents are received and reviewed, government should be in a position to provide Parliament with a clearer and more detailed account of the collections and their final destination. “Once that data is received and reviewed, the Ministry will be in a position to provide Parliament with a full and substantiated account of what was collected, and to follow up on the question of where those funds ultimately resided,” the minister said.
