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The Chief Minister stressed that although the consultants will be writing the plan, this will be done “based on the recommendations and ideas put forward by the Committees drawn from our people. So it will be our plan – the Peoples’ Plan.”
Speaking from a Planning and Budgeting point of view, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hon. Floyd Hall made reference to previous attempts at planning and noted one common feature, that being, “they were not prepared within a comprehensive national resource context”. He stressed that “The objectives of the Ten Year development plan will therefore be underpinned by a clear resource framework; and will be implemented through a series of rolling three-year Medium Term Economic and Social Planning Framework”.
According to Mr. Delton Jones, Chief Economist, it is anticipated that the planning exercise will take nine months. Various structures and procedures have been implemented to guide the procedure including the formation of a Steering Committee comprising of twenty “very accomplished and experienced citizens”. This committee will be tasked with outlining broad visions and goals for the development of the islands to guide the consultants during the planning exercise.
In addition to the Steering Committee, some twenty-seven island and Sectoral sub-committees will be formed and will be responsible for reviewing the conditions within their sector or island and proposing specific policies, projects and programs to move the sector forward in the short, medium and long-term.
The outputs of the Planning Exercise will be the following:
A Summary National Development Plan with a ten-year vision to be implemented in rolling three-year stages;
A first stage Medium-term Economic and Social Policy Framework containing specific projects and programmes to be implemented within the following three years;
Specific Island Plans named after the particular Islands to be implemented in rolling three year stages;
Various Sector Plans; and
A National Physical Plan, which will locate the various projects spatially taking into account land use and zoning regulation. **END**
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