Soe Htike Aung
U Maw Maw, Kayah State Minister for Planning and Finance, said that since the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the 1,000-million-kyat emergency fund received from the Union has not been used up.
“For Kayah State, it has received 10,000 million kyats in emergency funds from the Union starting from the 2019-2020 financial year. So, the 1,000 million kyats provided by the Union has not been used yet,” he responded at the 2nd time, 18th regular session (second day) of the Kayah State Hluttaw held on September 2, 2020.
U Teh Reh, a Member of the State Hluttaw for Constituency No. 1 in Hpruso Township, asked to be transparent for the public about how much the emergency fund is receiving annually under the current government and where it is being used.
He said that the question was raised due to the State Government’s lack of emergency funding for the requirements of schools that were reopened during the disease prevention and control under COVID outbreak.
“When it comes to emergency funds, all emergencies need to be used. Especially when it comes to the COVID issue, we even need to use more,” said U Teh Reh, a Member of the State Hluttaw for Constituency No. 1 in Hpruso Township.
U Maw Maw, Kayah State’s Minister of Planning and Finance said the emergency fund was allocated by the Union in the 2019-20 fiscal year and still could not use yet due to the procedure of regulations.
“The emergency fund could be used only when we get permission granted by the Union Ministry Management Committee, and the Regional or State Government. However, we have a procedure for submitting the emergency fund expenditures under (d) and (e) to the nearest Union Government meeting with the reasons for each case. We would like to present that so far, we have received this emergency fund of 1,000 million kyats in 2019-20, but we have not used it,” said U Maw Maw, Minister of Planning and Finance of Kayah State.
According to the Union Procedures, it stated in the table (4) that this emergency fund is to be used only for undeniable essential emergencies and for expenditures not specified in the budget. In addition, it stated in sub-section (a) that the decision of the Union Government on the use of this emergency fund must be obtained.
“If we want to control the disease, I think we should even spend more than $ 1,000 million on emergency funds. And now, when the disease returns in the second round, it is imperative that the state emergency fund be used to control the disease. Therefore, the answer “it has not been using until now” does not meet with my satisfaction, based on my perspective. If it is so, it also could be implied that the fund will be used only after people die from the disease. What I want to say is the situation has become mandatory to use,” State Hluttaw representative, U Teh Reh, said.
Ko Kyaw Htin Aung, a state affairs observer, said that although emergency funds were provided annually by the Union in the state and divisional budgets, it becomes like the current 2019-20 was not an emergency fund to be used for natural disasters, but to provide international loans to the regions and states in proportion to the emergency management procedure.
The Union’s received International loans, such as emergency management, are used for COVID prevention, control, and protection in some states and divisions.