Overseas Aid funds could be better spent at home
THE Guernsey Overseas Aid fund is currently at £2.6m. per year, which comes to about £43 for every man, woman and child in Guernsey. For a young family of four, say a plumber with a wife and two children, this adds up to about £170 per year after tax. Mr Plumber and family; this £170 is quietly just stolen from your taxes and you have no choice. The goal of our government is to provide basic needs for its people – sea walls, education, health, infrastructure, police and transport. I have spoken to many Guernsey people and they believe that the £2.6m. should be returned to the people to aid in bringing up their children, pensioners for food and heating, health support of mentally ill or those with chronic diseases. This would reduce the effects of tax that has been increased in so many areas to reduce the island deficit.
Giving money away by the States started in the 1980s when the United Nations voted that every wealthy country should devote a percentage of their wealth to poor countries. Guernsey is not in the United Nations and this is all a load of UN corrupt rubbish. Guernsey is nowhere near as wealthy as it used to be and led by the States we are moving towards a balanced budget.
Deputy Emilie Yerby, chairwoman of the States Overseas Aid, I ask that you lead by proposing to reduce this giving away by 5% (£130,000) every year for the next five years to match the financial transformation goals being put into place in all other areas of government. This will contribute to moving our economy back to an even keel.
People of Guernsey – do you agree with me? If yes, rise up by the thousands – support me and write your own letters to the Press, or indeed to each deputy.
Deputy Yerby. I would value a response in the Guernsey Press.
May good health be with all Guernsey people in 2017.
REX FERBRACHE,
Address withheld.
Editor's footnote: Deputy Emily Yerby responds: When the Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission granted £50,000 in emergency relief to organisations working in Yemen, earlier this month, it was refreshing to hear islanders say how pleased they were that we had done so, and how heartbroken they had been to see the conflict, hunger and illness affecting hundreds of thousands of people there.
Our Overseas Aid grants provide a lifeline to many small communities around the world, in areas which have experienced years of conflict, poor government, disease, disaster or deprivation. We support organisations which make sustainable change in those communities, by providing schools, healthcare and other fundamental infrastructure. Some of the organisations we support are founded and run by Guernsey people, and enthusiastically supported by islanders from all walks of life.
Perhaps the real maths will give your reader some comfort: the States' budget for 2017 is £362m., and the Overseas Aid budget makes up just £2.9m. of that sum. In other words, Overseas Aid accounts for only eight pence in every £10 of government spending. A plumber (or anyone else) who earns the island average of £31,400 per year will be paying at most about £4,300 in tax – of that, just over £30 a year will be spent on Overseas Aid.
I know that some islanders do not support Overseas Aid, and would prefer the money to be spent differently: in that respect, it is no different to anything else the States chooses to spend money on! Most islanders who value Overseas Aid do so out of natural human compassion, and would do so even if there was no benefit to us in return. But there are many – as well as having a positive effect on our international profile, Overseas Aid projects help to strengthen fragile health systems and reduce the factors that lead to poverty or war. In the past couple of years, this island has taken precautions against viruses like Ebola and Zika, which can travel the world in a heartbeat; and we've witnessed the refugee tragedy unfold as conflict displaces millions of people from their homes. These risks, which directly affect our lives too, can be better controlled if there is stronger infrastructure where they originate. Overseas Aid plays a small part in helping to do that.
Overseas Aid funding is due for review in 2017 and this will be a decision for the whole States – so please do write to your local deputies if you have strong views. For the reasons given above, I believe there is considerable value in supporting development in the poorest places in the world, and I'll be making the case for this in the States when the time comes.
I also wish your reader the very best for 2017, and invite him or her to contact me directly to discuss this further, should they wish to do so.
