It was encouraging to read in Tuesday’s edition that the Enterprise Support Project (ESP) managed by the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) aided 239 businesses. Applications for such assistance recently ended.
So far a total of US $19 million has been disbursed. More is to follow as the review and approval process goes on, while the focus will now be on continued training, development and research.
Although there were complaints about how it was made available back then, money from the Dutch-sponsored post-Hurricane Irma Trust Fund administered by the World Bank has undoubtedly been put to good use. However, after five years it appears unlikely that the entire $35 million earmarked for this particular initiative will be exhausted.
The question what happens with the rest of the means thus seems justified at this point. One suggestion might be to support others that could not qualify, for example because their turnover is a bit too high or staff too big.
Concentrating on micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) obviously makes sense, but there are plenty of companies just above the limit set also still suffering from the effects of both Irma and the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps a second round of the ESP with a broader approach and therefore more widespread impact might be worth considering, so funding is in any case not lost as sometimes happens with government projects.
