Party Turns Over Funds For Rural Roads

OFFICIALS from the Citizen ActionParty (PAC) have announced they hopemoney they have saved through what theycall “policies of efficiency” in the LegislativeAssembly can be used to fix ruralroads.Reduction of expenses for things suchas advisors and telephone use has allowedPAC legislators to save ¢205 million($435,000) annually from what they arebudgeted for legislative operations.Taking into account the government’stroublesome fiscal situation, particularlyregarding lack of funding to fix pothole filledroads, party officials said they hopethe Executive Branch will heed theirrequest to dedicate their savings to ruralroads.If other political parties implementPAC efficiency policies, the assemblywould save ¢1.23 billion ($2.6 million) ayear, according to a PAC statement.“This is a genuine offer we are makingto the government. It is not a pose,but a sign that if all the institutions of theState begin to apply the principles of publicefficiency that PAC implements, wewould generate tremendous savings andthe treasury would not have the shortageit has now,” said PAC legislative leaderMartha Zamora in a statement.The PAC initiative depends on theExecutive Branch, which is responsiblefor executing the budget through theDepartment of Public Budgets.