28 February 2003
Ian Pearson, Northern Ireland's interim finance minister during the suspension of the Assembly, has announced a £2bn spending programme under the Reinvestment and Reform Initiative agreed last year by the British and Northern Irish governments.
The highlight of the programme is a £100m tram system for Belfast, but the renovation of the province's failing water supply, sewerage and waste treatment systems is at the heart of it. Other projects given the go-ahead were improvements to two major Belfast roads, the building or refurbishing of 46 schools in the Belfast area under public-private partnership arrangements, the building of two fire stations and the purchase of fire engines and equipment.
Some £500m of the new programme will go on health services, with the final approval given for the building of a new acute hospital in Enniskillen.
Much of the funding comes from loans from the UK government, repayment of which will be part-financed by the imposition for the first time of water rates.
PFfeb2003
