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Opposition Leader Gerry Reid is disappointed with the lack of funding
allocated to communities in the province through the 2006-07 Community
Enhancement Program (CEP). Reid referenced that in the District of
Twillingate-Fogo, almost $793,000 in community applications were made,
however, government has allocated only $69,000 to address these needs.
"The money set aside by government in this year’s CEP funding is a drop in
the bucket," said Mr. Reid. "I truly question whether this government
actually visits communities in rural areas of our province and has witnessed
first hand the infrastructure needs of these areas. In my district, 18
communities have made application for a total of 22 projects. The allocated
funding will do very little to accommodate these requests.
"For a government that continuously states that they are committed to
rural Newfoundland and Labrador, their lack of action certainly speak louder
than words. There are hundreds of people in my district who struggled with
the fishery this year and are being forced to leave the province in search
of work. Unfortunately, any hope they had of being able to qualify for
employment through this program have been dashed.
"I ask Minister Ottenheimer to re-evaluate the money granted through this
year’s program. Our office is being bombarded with requests from communities
that require CEP projects, and this little amount of funding does a great
disservice to these people who have worked tirelessly in putting these
proposals together."
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