The government has paid out nearly $140,000 in legal fees to assist the straw vendors who were incarcerated in the United States last year, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham revealed.
According to Ingraham, who opened debate on the mid-year budget Monday in the House of Assembly, a little over $139,000 was spent on their legal fees.
As previously reported the government has allocated $18.1 million to the Department of Finance to pay outstanding bills to the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) incurred by various government ministries and departments.
The prime minister said another $416,000 is going to assist indigent persons, $203,000 for the national lunch program, and $3.1 million to assist the needy.
Ingraham added that $595,000 will go towards paying air traffic controllers and $4 million will go to the Public Hospitals Authority. Ingraham also said that the government paid out $2.2 million to disengaged CLICO workers.
An additional $5.1 million will go to ZNS for the payment of separation packages.
Ingraham reported that relative to the corresponding period in fiscal year 2009/2010, revenue collection in the first six months of 2010/2011 was down by approximately $50 million.
