February 11, 2019
Growth fund jobs slow but tika
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is dismissing attacks over the number of jobs created by the Provincial Growth Fund as short term static.
National’s Paul Goldsmith has collated written answers to questions about fund projects and come up with a figure of 54 jobs created in the first year.
Mr Jones says the fund is about the future wealth of the provinces, and that means making long term commitments to develop the necessary infrastructure.
"You can’t have it both ways. You can't have at one level 'you're not creating enough jobs, you're moving too slow,' and then when someone like myself moves too fast then you attract the ire of the Audit department or you end up not actually complying with the rules of probity," he says.
The jobs will emerge as feasibility studies are completed and the investment rolls out.
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