Zero Hunger Trust Fund telephone levy collects over $144,000

Over $144,000 dollars has been collected by the Zero Hunger Trust Fund (ZHTF) from the levy which was placed on local and international calls from St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

This figure was disclosed by Minister of Technology Camillo Gonsalves, during a ministerial speech to Parliament last Thursday.{{more}}

Gonsalves, however, noted that the money collected had fallen short of what they had initially hoped to receive.

“I will indicate that…what we originally envisaged to collect from the two per cent levy we will fall short of that collection, because the officials had done the Math based on all calls, outgoing and incoming, but the law that we passed only places the levy on calls initiated in SVG.”

The Minister also noted that before any change is made in the collection of the two per cent levy, they will first assess how the money is being used.

The ZHTF, which was established in April of this year, had, at the end of July a balance of $153,441.99, of which $144,000 was acquired though the levy, $78 from interest and another $9,151 which is presumed to be from salary of the Prime Minister which he promised the fund during the 2016 Budget debate.

However, Gonsalves indicated that after several of the programmes were rolled out, the fund’s balance currently stands at $87,980.76.

According to the Minister, $65,000 has been spent on the implementation of the Adopt a School Programme and the Rapid Skills Training Programme.

He also indicated that Minister of Agriculture Saboto Caesar had negotiated some extra funds for the ZHTF from the Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO).(CM)