Klimaatprogramma in Sahel: “Kitir gooit met belastinggeld”
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Het Vlaams Belang is verbolgen dat minister van Ontwikkelingssamenwerking Meryame Kitir (Vooruit) 50 miljoen euro veil heeft voor een klimaatprogramma in de Sahel. “Dat is 50 miljoen die naar een Afrikaanse bijna-woestijn gaan, terwijl de mensen hier te lande niet meer weten hoe hun energiefactuur nog te kunnen betalen”, zegt Kamerlid Annick Ponthier. “We zien meteen de ‘big shift’ van Vooruit in de praktijk: een ‘big shift’ van ons belastinggeld richting Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali en Niger.”
Kitir, die momenteel door Afrika reist, maakte tijdens een ontmoeting met de Burkinese minister van Leefmilieu haar plan bekend om 50 miljoen euro Belgisch belastinggeld vrij te maken in het kader van een Belgisch regionaal klimaatprogramma voor de Sahel. “Het spreekt voor zich dat we meeleven met volkeren die lijden onder droogte”, aldus Ponthier. “Maar gelet op de sterk toenemende armoede in eigen land en het beperkte budgettaire kader in deze coronatijden, dienen andere keuzes te worden gemaakt.”
“Kitir gooit gul met geld van een ander en toont zich aldus een echte socialiste”
Het Vlaams Belang vraagt zich verder af welke garanties Kitir heeft dat het geld uiteindelijk in de juiste handen terecht zal komen. “Dat is altijd een terechte vraag bij het verlenen van ontwikkelingshulp en zeker in het geval van Kitir, die zich eerder al uiterst naïef toonde waar het ging om de juiste aanwending van gelden”, vervolgt Ponthier. “Vorige maand maakte ze zo nog bekend twee miljoen euro aan humanitaire hulp aan Afghanistan te zullen schenken. Op de minister na is er niemand die kan geloven dat na de machtsovername in dat land dit geld niet bij de Taliban terecht zal komen.”
“Wanneer het woordje ‘klimaat’ valt, kan hiervoor niet genoeg met geld worden gesmeten, en ook niet snel genoeg”, besluit Ponthier, die hierbij verwijst naar het voornemen van Kitirs socialistische collega Thomas Dermine (PS), de staatssecretaris voor Relance en Strategische Investeringen, om de komende jaren vijfduizend miljard euro Europees belastinggeld te spenderen aan klimaatmaatregelen. “Maar wie in dit land onder de armoedegrens moet leven, moet steevast op de kin blijven kloppen.”