MP Burke calls for increase in Constituency Development Fund

By Prince Moore

Member of Parliament for St. Andrew South West Dr. Angela Brown Burke is calling for the government to increase the Constituency Development Fund.

She declared her dissatisfaction during her constituency consultation meeting last Thursday at her Caribbean Palm constituency office, where she discussed key issues affecting residents and the need for greater support for local development projects.

Dr. Brown Burke criticized the continued allocation of 20 million dollars to each Member of Parliament for constituency development work.

She says this sum is insufficient, given the many responsibilities attached to the fund.

“In some ways, it's a setup because what can you really do with $20 million in 2026,” she asked.

Responding to the argument that there are other agencies with which MPs may collaborate to deliver services to the constituents, she argued that this is “a theoretical proposition.”

“If you ask my counselors who have tried to access Chase, they will tell you what the challenges are. I must admit, I have not been to SDF for a while. I must say, though, that we do have some very good corporate neighbors who have helped and who have kept us afloat with some of the things that we have needed to do,” she elaborated.