The Ministry of the People and Social Development spent $1.7 million to send approximately 135 ministry officials to conduct activities in Tobago during 14 days in November and December 2012 and January 2013, Minister Glenn Ramdharsingh has said.
Ramadharsingh gave the information in the House of Representatives on Friday replying to an Opposition question which sought information on the number of staff members who had been sent to Tobago for work-related purposes in that period, and the various costs associated with their activities.Ramdharsingh prefaced the figures with details of outreach activities the ministry had undertaken in Tobago since 2011.
"A promise was made to the people of Tobago that we would return and bring much more," Ramadharsingh added, outlining visits to Tobago when various services were provided.Speaking specifically about the nine-day period in November 2012 when ministry staff was in Tobago, Ramadharsingh said 15 communities were visited."And all you still lose the (Tobago House of Assembly) election!" PNM MP Paula Gopee-Scoon interjected.
Ramadharsingh said the numbers of staff members sent by the ministry to Tobago to work in November and December 2012 and January 2013 were 68, 29 and 38 respectively.He detailed a list ranging from directors of various divisions and deputy managers to clerks and drivers.Facilities used to accommodate staff were Grafton Beach Hotel, Le Grand Courland and Kariwak Hotel in November 2012. Staff utilised Mt Irvine Bay Hotel for the December 2012 period and the same venue in January 2013.
Ramadharsingh said the total cost of accommodation, air and ground travel and other expenses for November 2012 was $1,533,979.70.Accommodation, air and ground transport and other expenses for staff for December 2012 was $112,599 and for the January 2013 period, $105,841.The grand total was $1,752,419.70Ramadharsingh said more 15 areas were visited and total of 1,024 items, from wheelchairs to stuffed toys, were provided to Tobagonians, he added.
He had been asked to provide the names of the ministry staff who went to Tobago, but said the names of public officers should not be read in Parliament.PNM MP Amery Browne, however, subsequently told the T&T Guardian there was no parliamentary standing order that prohibited the names of public officers being stated in Parliament.
Ramadharsingh encountered loud PNM picong when he said Tobagonians had welcomed the ministry "with open arms." He said the ministry's work was not about the last election, but the next general election.