Even as the T&T Transparency Institute (TTTI) was calling on the government to answer specific questions related to the $55 million gift to Christian churches in December, Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris was explaining the situation as it related to the Roman Catholic Church.After a representative of the church was given a voucher for $2.2 million at the function at the Diplomatic Centre, Archbishop Harris asked what it was for.
Told that it was to "bring Christmas cheer to the poor," he then contacted the St Vincent de Paul Society, which runs 19 homes for the aged in T&T and asked them to ensure that each home had a good meal for Christmas and to bring the bills to Archbishop's House."If there is money left over after we calculated how much was spent," the Archbishop said, "I will ask the Government what to do with it."
Archbishop Harris noted that if the money was given solely for "Christmas cheer," he would instruct that the balance of the money would be returned to the Government.It was an unusually clear-cut and direct response to questions put to him about the Christmas bounty lavished on the churches, and it's the only one that's been forthcoming so far.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has stoutly declined to provide any details about her Christmas gifting, an unusual premise for the leader of a Government that came to power on the promise of greater transparency with the public about the way their money is being spent.
Questions regarding the spending on Christmas presents have largely gone unanswered in their specifics, with sweeping generalities about donors and committees serving as substitutes for a clear public accounting of where the money to buy the gifts came from.The surge in spending on Christian churches, a clear amplification of previous subventions from the state, also remains unexplained and the TTTI is asking specific and sensible questions about the matter that demand answers.
The Institute has asked the Government to provide information about the selection criteria and the basis on which funds are allocated to each church and whether the funds disbursed and their beneficiaries have been recorded.It has further asked whether a documented, public process exists whereby churches can access the money and what restrictions might exist of its use.
The TTTI has called on the government to offer answers to these questions publicly and to disclose the full list of the beneficiaries and the amounts received. In a response to the unflagging effort the Government's effort to cross the philosophical divide between church and state, the Ministry of the People and Social Development revealed that 699 churches had received a total of $7,759,000, with another $2,326,000 on the way.
The maxmimum amount given to any church was $25,000. Both the sums dispensed and the number of churches gifted fall significantly short of the Prime Minister's promise to gift 1,000 churches with $55 million, but the Social Development Ministry's statement still lacks the level of detail that such public spending should generate.
If the People's Partnership believes completely in the value of its Christmas gift programme and the processes it has created to manage it, there should be no problem in supplying clear answers to the TTTI's eminently straightforward questions regarding public policy in this matter.