Apr 16 - Government And GSD Clash Over GFA Stadium Payments
The Government and Opposition have clashed over how much money has been paid to the GFA in respect of stadium development costs.
Number Six says that “there are occasions when the Opposition surpass themselves - and their latest statement on the GFA stadium issue is one.”
The Government argues that, in their urge to say something - anything – the GSD has asked a question for which their Press Release actually provides the full answer.
The Government statement continues:
“In the GFA's Financial Statement for 2013/2014, Note 7 provides that the sum of £835,792 for Stadium Development Costs includes payments made by the Gibraltar Government.
“The Opposition are now asking for the Chief Minister to explain the ‘apparent inconsistency’ between the GFA's Final Financial Statement and an answer the Chief Minister provided to Parliament in which he said that only £104 had been paid by the Government in respect of Stadium Development Costs.’
“However, the Opposition's release also quotes Note 8 in the report when it says that 'the entire sum in respect of Stadium Development Costs is money due from the GFA to the Government of Gibraltar.' We repeat, 'from the GFA to the Government.'
“If the Opposition had done their homework a little more carefully they would have discovered that the sum of £835,000 was a loan to the GFA and therefore this money is owed 'from the GFA to the Government' - exactly as the Report makes clear.
“There is therefore no question of any inconsistency that the Chief Minister needs to explain. There is, however, a question for the GSD to answer, namely: ‘who failed to understand the accounts of the GFA when they are so clear in the respect in particular?’”
GSD RESPONSE: GOVERNMENT IS BEING "DISHONEST"
For its part, the GSD has accused the Government of being dishonest over the stadium costs and quickly issued the following response:
“The statement from the Government on the £835,792 paid by it in respect of the new Stadium Development Costs is both astonishing as it is politically dishonest.
“The question the Leader of the Opposition asked in Parliament was very clear: ‘what money has been paid either directly or indirectly by the Government … in respect of the proposed Europa Point Stadium …’ The answer was £104 and that was not true.
“The dishonesty in both the answer and the explanation the Government is now providing is evident from page 2 of those accounts which provides as follows:
“The Gibraltar Football Association is working in conjunction with the Gibraltar Government towards the design, development and construction of a new Football Stadium that will meet UEFA standards … Preliminary costs of the design, surveys etc have already been incurred and these have been covered by the Gibraltar Government. The GFA will refund the Gibraltar Government for this expenditure once the Stadium is complete...”
“To suggest that because this money is accounted for in the GFA accounts as a loan from the Government to the GFA, no money was paid by the Government in respect of the proposed Europa Point Stadium is simply not true, dishonest and typical of this False Dawn Government,” concluded a statement from the Opposition.
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