Government came under pressure from the Opposition Tuesday over a resolution which will allow the withdrawal of $2.5 billion from the Capital Development Fund (CDF).

Established in 1974, the CDF is funded from the bauxite levy and was set up with a clear mandate to reinvest some of the returns earned from the industry into communities located in the bauxite belt.

Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies, who moved the resolution in the House of Representatives, said the money was being withdrawn to support the national budget.

However, Opposition members took the Finance Minister to task as they pointed out that the bauxite communities were not benefiting from the levy and that many of them were lacking infrastructural development.

Mr. Smith charged that, for the past four and a half years, the Government has withdrawn almost $10 billion from the CDF and that none of this money has ever been used to fix any road or to build any houses in these communities.

"I am the one who has to face the people out there and all the people are asking is if the Government has no money in the budget, and I ask the same question, 'why can't you use some of the bauxite money and fix the people's roads'," he said.

People blame me

"The people blame me the Member of Parliament and they say that I must find the money. The PNP area leader for a district called Gibraltar told me the other day that I was to sell my house and fix the road," he added to the laughter of members in the House.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding suggested a board be appointed to monitor the proceeds of the fund and that a percentage of the levy be dedicated to rehabilitate mined-out bauxite communities.

Dr. Davies called for serious debate on the issue, which he said had degenerated.

"Because all of this discussion is not really about the Capital Development Fund, this is just hustling for individual constituencies! Let us examine the real issues," he said.

The resolution was eventually passed. The withdrawal represents the second pull down from the CDF for this fiscal year.